2 Landlords Prosecuted In Housing Court

Unless I missed it, how interesting that no mention is made that Matthew Harp is the son of former mayor and State Senator Toni Harp. Is that not important information? If a less connected or politically unpopular target was in court there would have been a complete rectal examination.... but not for children of the local political elite?
Alos---yet another slumlord story, NHI? Why not send Mr. Breen to NH Housing Session to hear of the thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and damages done by tenants that some poor sap little landlord is trying to recoup in an eviction of said deadbeat tenant? I guess that does not fit the woke story line that NHI is hellbent on weaving as the correct narrative. I am so disappointed in the direction taken by this publication.

@Cityyankee2
You are right on. I'm not sticking up for all landlords, I know there are a lot of bad ones. But no one ever talks about the damage and destruction of the units by the tenants in subsidized housing. LCI is well aware of this as they must rehab the apartments in the housing complexes when a tenant leaves. Majority of these units require much more than just paint and cleaning. A huge percentage of these units were brand new when moved into. Many are completely trashed in less than a year. Cabinets, counter tops, appliances, sinks, you name it, must be replaced. quite often walls need to be re-sheet rocked. All of this paid for with tax dollars. And the tenants are never held liable. Think of the 10's of billions of dollars that are being spent across the country for this, year after year after year.

agree with Toadster. From my experience, there are at least 5 cases where the problem is with the tenant for every 1 where it is a bad landlord. Would love to see some balance in the reporting

CY2, regarding your first question, the answer is no. Adults are responsible for their own actions. Matthew Harp may or may not be a slumlord who violated housing laws. He is definitely an adult. Unless you have evidence that Toni Harp was somehow involved in the (mis)management of the properties, she is irrelevant to the story, as is the fact that she is Matthew Harp’s mother.

I am no fan of Toni Harp, but I rise to her defense: unless she is somehow involved in her son's business [and that might be a topic for further investigation], then noting her relationship to him, in the context of talking about his housing violations, would be akin to passive-aggressive accusations of guilt by association. Not fair.

Well the tenants in subsidized housing especially the ones that haven't been rehabilitated or completely built over have to deal with makeshift repairs that will subsequently become damaged over and over again for the simple fact that the repairs aren't done correctly and or that that things being repaired over and over again can't really hold up become they need to be completely replaced.Leaky water pipes,mold due to poor air circulation because units have only but a few windows,rodent infestations partially due to cracked dumpsters on the premises ,rusted door hinges that will continuously break when they should be completely replaced or the door frames that need to be completely replaced,incorrectly framed window screens that allow water and insects to enter the units are just some of the things that landlords neglect which in turn make the tenants look like the ones who are damaging the units.

HERE IS A FACT: Without real estate stories, very few people would read the independent, for sure I would not. Now who has time in this busy world to read about a reopened pizzeria or an elderly neighborhood activist. But real estate is juicy gossip. But the NHI has a subtle socialist anti business bent, that the astute coverage of real estate masks. But make no mistakes, they love nothing but stories that cast landlords in a shady light, and yet, despite their almost unequalled in-depth investigations, they somehow always miss the beastial tenants who completely destroy apartments and cost private landlords thousands of dollars. They dig in to your mortgages and into your so called unfair under revaluation (always omitting their progressive buddies on Orange Street who get 900K houses valued at 550K) but if it's a multifamily landlord it's always a good story. It's Journalism misdemeanor not to at least mention the familial relation to the ex mayor, and NO STORY PUBLISHED here about the wide opposition for bike lanes on Orange street that will bankrupt Atticus, P&M and Nica, and cost renters thousands in parking costs. As the progressive agenda mandates so the NHI goes.

Aizenberg critiqued LCI’s communication, yet his whereabouts for a criminal case is unknown? Sounds like a criminal. At least Matt Harp showed up to court.

How many properties/assets does Renaissance manage in comparison to Ocean?

I find it slightly odd that the article didn’t mention the defendants relationship to a former mayor.
I find it more odd that the article didn’t mention the defendants mysteriously disappearing tax debt (while his mother, former state senator, was mayor)

https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/Harp-company-no-longer-top-tax-scofflaw-in-11384584.php

"Why does the WOKE NH Independent never write about property damage that individual tenants inflict upon individual units?????"

Pretty easy answer in my mind: because it's not news. If the tenant had a demonstrated, documented behavior of trashing rental units I think it would be newsworthy. If a tenant committed arson, it would be newsworthy. But tenants are, by and large, individual actors who don't have much power in a system they MUST participate in (if they want a place to live that is).

Landlords (or management groups, or the LCI), on the other hand, are the ones in control of that system and so when they do many things wrong, commit crimes, establish a pattern of behavior that erodes housing that the community depends on it is newsworthy. I'm glad I know that Ocean and Renaissance let violation upon violation pile up, it lets me know that if I have a choice between them and another group to choose the other group. Many folks don't have that choice and they're being exploited by groups like Ocean and Renaissance who do very little to help maintain the properties they're contractually bound to keep up. To air out their "dirty laundry" may force them to act, obviously going to court doesn't seem to.

It's good to see LCI do its job. That we are seeing major owners publicly shamed by being made to answer to the courts only highlights how little enforcement was done in previous administrations.
I have several issues with the Mayor, but he has picked some good people to work in city government and we are seeing some changes.
Housing is too critical to a person's survival to leave it to the profit model exclusively.
That $40 billion that is going to Ukraine would build a lot of subsidized housing and private owners would be forced to upgrade (or at least maintain) their properties to compete for tenants.

While I understand the NHI’s reasoning about not noting Toni Harp (former mayor, and former State Senator,) is Matthew Harp’s mother, and his father the late Wendell Harp was an architect who had several architecture contracts with the city before his death and built some of the schools with the worst structural issues in the city, many of which were nightmares to work in or attend school in, and have since been torn down. Before his death, Wendell and Toni owned lots of the same properties they have had ongoing issues with for years. After his father’s death the properties were put in Matthew’s name, probably to protect his mother Toni’s political career. So the family history of property issues with the city, is interesting to the public.
There are bad landlords and bad tenants. Both should be held accountable for issues that are beyond the normal wear and tear of living in a unit. Landlords have a responsibility to keep the units safe and in good condition and free of vermin, and secure the building and monitor the condition of smoke detectors and appliances. And tenants have a responsibility to not break things, to keep their unit clean, not dismantle smoke detectors, or damage appliances, or leave doors or windows unlocked, and to not bring in vermin by their actions. When tenants move, they should leave the place empty of their stuff, and clean. Landlords should clean again, and paint, and double check the smoke detectors to make sure they work, and use the security deposit to pay if damages are beyond the usual wear and tear.
LCI needs to be more professional and fair and neutral to tenants and landlords, and hold the correct party accountable for anything that was caused by tenants, or by the landlords, and anything beyond the normal wear and tear, as should the housing courts.

Nelson, cities around the world have added bike lanes, in part for economic reasons. (The ones I am most familiar with are NYC, Chicago, Montreal, Seville, and Copenhagen.) If anything, the bike lanes have benefitted nearby businesses. Here is a study that looked 14 bike lanes in six U.S. cities and found positive economic impacts. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200422151318.htm An earlier NYC study found that retail sales increased faster on streets that had bike lanes installed than on streets without bike lanes http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2014-09-03-bicycle-path-data-analysis.pdf. Bloomberg.com, which is hardly anti-business, found the same trend in studies of bike lanes in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, as well as the U.S. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-13/every-study-ever-conducted-on-the-impact-converting-street-parking-into-bike-lanes-has-on-businesses

I’ve lived in East Rock for 30+ years. Nica’s previous incarnation did fine before the parking lot was added next door. Nica’s will do fine if a bike lane is added to Orange Street.

NHPS Teacher: Where do you get the idea that Aizenberg's whereabouts are unknown? Where in the article is there such a statement. His firm's attorney does state that he is overseas. I suspect that he is in Israel, the source of much of the capital financing real estate purchases in New Haven. (E.g., Mandy is a front for an Israeli company called Netz. ) The capital seems to flow from or through Tel Aviv to Brooklyn to New Haven. Aizenberg could be on a business trip, or simply a summer vacation.

While the offenses charged are on the "criminal docket", the offenses charged are infractions, not crimes. In other words, the defendants cannot be jailed, only fined, as with most traffic offenses. Note, deliberate damage to an apartment by a tenant may be a crime, but the state's attorney is extremely reluctant to prosecute tenants. Connecticut's prosecutors and judges system are highly politicized as use their positions to further a leftist agenda rather than impartially administer justice.

1644, any insights as to why the charges against Aizenberg might create a problem for his readmission to the U.S.? I understand why pending charges would be an issue for a person leaving the country. Same thing if there was an outstanding arrest warrant. But that does not seem to be the case here.

Nelson, no one (including me and you) has a clear idea of how widespread opposition is to bike lanes on Orange Street. There have been neither a referendum or public opinion polls on the issue. There was a petition in favor of the lanes that was signed by I believe over 100 people. But obviously that is not a representative sample of neighborhood residents.

And you are mistaken on two points. It is incorrect to say that everybody drives. About 30% of New Haven households have no cars (2020 U.S. Census). And the previous NHI story on the Orange Street presented both sides of the issue, quoting the owner of Cafe Bravo among other opponents. https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/orange_st_bike_lanes

@Heather C
Over 2 decades NH undertook a school reconstruction program resulting in more than $2B taxpayer money to completely redo every school building, and added a few additional schools. Architect WHarp was engaged to do design work for new Career HS. Prior to that he was hired to do minor repair design work for the old Mauro building (Orchard Ave). Like every other New Haven minority owned contractor or professional firm, he was frozen out of the School Reconstruction budget work. Your suggestion that his NHPS design work was the result of improper political influence by his wife is not only misplaced, it is wrong. In fact, in context, his selection as the only minority architect for 1 of 45 NHPS schools can be viewed as a gross underutilization of local minority talent.

I also find your ideas that he produced “schools with the worst structural issues in the city…” puzzling; since he only produced 1 new design. Altho I haven’t been in all NHPS schools, I would not hesitate to match the systems and design elements of Career against Cross, Hillhouse and other major buildings in the system. I’m no architect, but I have experienced far fewer complaints re Career’s plant, equipment and environmental systems (If those systems can even be blamed on the architect).

In short, I see no reason for you to go so far afield from the story topic/issues to disparage the legacy of a talented local hero, dead and gone for nearly a decade. It seems out of character for you, judging from your prior postings. Past NHI reporting clearly establishes that Toni at no time owned or participated in her husband’s real estate business. Matthew Harp owns/operates the business since his father died. Nothing indicates that Toni is in any way associated with the business now, or in the past. If you choose to accuse them of some nefarious doings, fairness demands that you present some facts to back up your conjecture.

Unfortunately, neither of the 2 accused landlords has presented their side of the story. What we see are the allegations of LCI staffers based upon onsite inspection. Landlord/tenant cases ALWAYS demand both sides be presented. In this case we also have LCI as the moving party. We don’t know what the landlords’ defenses are. Perhaps the article is premature.

Paul –
I can understand that a landlord who finds himself dragged into a criminal housing court violation scenario can most likely feel unfairly put upon and likely unwilling to “litigate his case in the press” before things have even gotten rolling. Unlike trained professional journalists chasing down leads (NHI staffers), defendants are not expected to have thick skin. I don’t see the urgency in bringing this story forward at this time if you only have one-half the picture. The-truth-is-out-there. It may just take a moment to get to it. But it rarely will be found solely in the papers of 1 side to the conflict.