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Condemned house not cleared out yet

City may seek court order to evict man from building

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

A house on Church Street that has been condemned by the City of Fayetteville for multiple building code violations is still occupied.

The man renting the property from Thomas Stephens, who is managing it for his mother, has plans to move to Atlanta to live with some of his nieces, Stephens said.

He added that he was unaware how the eviction process would proceed since the property was condemned by the city building official, Tony Haponski.

Haponski said the tenant was still at the home when he drove by Wednesday, so he may ultimately have to seek an eviction notice from a judge to get the matter taken care of.

The house was condemned Aug. 24 and the renter had 15 days to move out, city officials said.

In a report on the condemnation by Haponski, several significant problems with the house were noted including the lack of a toilet indoors, no electrical power and holes in the outside walls that allowed daylight to peek through. Stephens said if it lacked power and running water, it was because the tenant hadn’t paid those bills.

Stephens, who actually asked the city to condemn the structure after determining it would be too cost-prohibitive to fix, plans to have it demolished.

Late last month, Stephens said he didn’t have the heart to kick out the tenant, who is a longtime Fayette resident dependent on a social security check. The man paid just $100 a month in rent, Stephens said.

Stephens did have some improvements done to the house, including a new porch and new electrical work “because I was afraid the dang thing would catch on fire,” Stephens said.

The city’s investigation into the property began after an Aug. 14, 2003 complaint letter from Derryll Anderson, who lives in the area. She complained that drug activity was occurring at the residence and the house was in disrepair.

Stephens said he, too, lives in the area and doesn’t want drug and other criminal activity in the neighborhood.