Group vents frustrations to mayor over real estate regulations | Daily Democrat, Fort Madison, Iowa

A group of Fort Madison residents and property owners gathered Wednesday evening to discuss their experiences, challenges and frustrations with the city’s vacant and rental property registration programs and burdensome real estate regulations.

And when Mayor Matt Mohrfeld appeared, those in attendance took the opportunity to vent their frustration with the city, while Mohrfeld offered a series of explanations and defended the city’s policies.

The meeting was held at the LULAC Club, was open to the public, approximately 25 people showed up, was organized by community members Angela and Carmen Salazar, Sal Gonzales and Darrell “Bones” Davolt, and was initially intended to share stories of struggling residents and property owners they had with the city.

“One thing to note is that everyone has different experiences of what is expected, what is documented, what gets fined, what violates city ordinances and what doesn’t,” Angela Salazar said at the start meetings.

The most important concerns the group intended to address included whether they had received notices of having unregistered vacant or unregistered rental properties, issues with their properties not being compliant with City Hall requirements, being subject to tax sales, and citation confusion. and penalties that may have been imposed knowingly or unknowingly as a result of their property being listed on the county tax sale rolls.

Those who spoke cited a variety of complaints, including confusion and inconsistencies in the register of vacant and rented properties, problems in obtaining properties that the city deemed burdensome in compliance with regulations, confusion and errors regarding penalties and fines and tax sales, personal frustration with Fort Madison Building Director Doug Krogmeier, selective enforcement of city code, difficulty obtaining information, communication problems, perceived targeting and unfairness of city regulations towards fixed and low-income people, and lack of clarity and due process on how to correct what they consider the classifications and penalties to be incorrect.

Sean Rogers, owner and property manager of Happyland Properties, said he believes the city is violating civil rights and that the city code is in conflict with state law.

“I’m not against what the city is trying to do, I’m 100% against who is doing it and how it’s being done,” Rogers said. “I believe in cooperation. I believe in doing what is best for the greatest number of people. I don’t want adversarial situations. (But) every thing is against the city.

“I’ve had three in-person meetings (with city officials)… From those meetings, it sounds like they let you express your opinion and then they go back into the room and say, ‘Fuck him,’ and continue doing whatever they want to do…”

“Laws that are black and white, under Iowa code, don’t even look up. Their lawyer gives them terrible advice because he wrote the ordinances in Clinton, Iowa. They are wrong too.”

One woman stated that the city fined her for not mowing her lawn and cited the difficulty she has in maintaining her property due to her work schedule.

Another woman stated that she had received numerous citations from the city regarding a house she owned that was built in the 1800s for code violations, and cited health issues, a fixed income, and inability to make repairs and upgrades that she was told I need to do.

Davolt, who owns several rental properties, said he is not complying with the rental ordinance and is instead simply choosing to pay the city a $250 fine, which he says is just a cost of doing business.

“Isn’t it a pity you can’t invest in Fort Madison?” Davolt said, adding that he didn’t like that he was facing charges for owning vacant properties in the city. “I didn’t buy (the property) for (the city) to tell me what to do with it. I bought it once I decided what to do with it. But they need the money so much that they come up with these regulations. It’s almost like it’s some other city than Fort Madison.

As the meeting progressed, Mohrfeld began to answer questions directed at him or when he was able to provide clarification about the city code, he stated that the interactions of residents and property owners between Krogmeier and other city officials are not always pleasant, if they have to tell someone they have to do something about their property and acknowledged that there were difficulties and that the city could do a better job.

Mohrfeld, however, rejected allegations that the city was imposing fines on property owners simply to raise revenue.

“It’s nice to say it, but it’s not true,” Mohrfeld said. “What we are really trying to achieve here is a city that will have better attractiveness and will have fewer damaged buildings, fewer buildings that the municipality will be forced to take over, destroy or repair. And so we have a choice here. We can be part of the solution. Sometimes that solution can be as simple as mowing the lawn.”

Mohrfeld added that the city has identified 400 dilapidated buildings within the city limits and added that the city is in situations where it becomes responsible for maintaining buildings when they become unsafe, collapse or catch fire, or have tenant problems and other issues, which occur when the owner of the property does not take care of it or cannot be found.

“This is unacceptable,” Mohrfeld said. “We can’t develop our city if we have all these dilapidated buildings…

“If the problem is that we’re not mowing the lawn, mow the damn lawn. I’ll just say it out loud. I have no sympathy there. I really don’t…

“None of us wants the value of our property to be reduced by a dilapidated facility. This process is not simple. When we identify the 400 properties in our city that are dragging our city down, they need to fix it. We came up with a plan to try (fix) and it’s not perfect. But the solution is in this room. The solution is personal pride. And unfortunately (those responsible for enforcing compliance with regulations) are the city. And it’s painful.”

Several participants stated that they have spoken with legal counsel and have considered filing a lawsuit against the city regarding enforcement and implementation of the regulations, but it is unclear at this time whether they will take any legal action.

The group that met Wednesday night may create petitions, hold more meetings with city officials and hold more meetings in the future to continue discussion on the issue and take action.