Power Cut, Tenants Displaced From Illegal Apartments

The city has shut off power and gas at two apartment buildings owned by a Guilford-based landlord duo that has been caught — again — creating illegal, unpermitted dwelling units in Goatville and the Hill.

As a result of the city’s escalating enforcement actions, at least five tenants have been forced out of their homes. 

That’s the latest with 68 Mechanic St. and 154 Minor St., both of which are owned by Xie Meiqiang and Ren Xiaoli.

According to violation notices recently posted to the city’s land records database, as well as the Independent’s interviews with officials in the Building Department and Livable City Initiative (LCI), the Elicker administration has effectively shuttered the illegally supersized buildings until they are restored to their permitted unit counts.

The city shut down the Mechanic Street property after finding that Xie and Ren had turned the two-family house into five different apartments — for the second time in seven years. 

Those same landlords received their fourth violation notice in 11 years for converting a commercial space on Minor Street into six dwelling units without the city’s permission. The Building Department cut off power at that property as well.

Meanwhile, last summer, inspectors ordered the landlords’ Vernon Street house, packed with unpermitted dwelling units, restored to its legal condition as a two-family home.

Taken together, the persistent overcrowding of 68 Mechanic St., 154 Minor St., and 48 Vernon St. reflects more than a decade of housing violations, long flagged by both neighbors and the city, tied to Xie and Ren.

At least five tenants at 68 Mechanic St. and 154 Minor St. were displaced from their homes in July as a result of the city’s escalating enforcement actions. Three or more of them were relocated through LCI.

“The City of New Haven has a variety of tools to protect tenants and ensure safe conditions,” city Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli told the Independent in an email comment Thursday. ​“When tenants are under risk, the City can and will step in with all our available tools. In 2022, the City identified a problem at 154 Minor St and took immediate action. Likewise, in 2018, 2019, and 2025, the City identified issues at 68 Mechanic St, took immediate action with the owner and relocated tenants.

“Compliance issues have emerged on a repeated basis with this owner, and condemnation actions explicitly communicate that the property cannot be occupied while it remains in violation of code enforcement. While the city puts strict timelines on owner compliance, some owners unfortunately choose to face fines and other sanctions rather than comply.” 

"Illegal Use & Occupancy" On Mechanic

Xie and Ren were first cited by the city for cramming five apartments into a two-family Mechanic Street home in the Goatville section of East Rock back in March 2018. 

In a ​“Notice of Violation and Order to Abate” letter, the Building Department wrote, “[I]t appears additional dwelling units have been constructed without the required permit and/or approvals.” The letter demanded the landlords immediately ​“cease use and occupancy of the non-compliant dwelling units” and acquire the required building permits within seven days. 

In the same week, LCI served a letter to Xie and Ren stating the property was ​“unfit for human occupancy,” citing its unapproved conversion into a five-family house and the absence of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Back in 2018, after the citations were issued, Assistant Building Inspector James Eggart told the Independent that the landlords had been complying with the Building Department’s orders to reduce occupancy at the property. 

But seven years later, the department sent another notice of violation after finding, once again, that the landlord had ​“created illegal apartments” at 68 Mechanic St. 

The ​“Illegal Use and Occupancy” letter, dated Aug. 11 of this year, noted that the apartments lacked compliant ​“fire separation,” ​“means of egress,” and ​“smoke detection devices,” and they were constructed without ​“the required permit(s) and approval(s).”

The letter demanded the owners obtain demolition permits to revert the building back into a two-family home within 30 days of receipt. 

In a separate letter sent the same week, the Building Department notified the landlords of electrical violations at the Mechanic Street property related to underground conductors, junction boxes, and bath receptacles. Xie and Ren were given 30 days to remedy those problems.

According to Building Official Bob Dillon, to ensure compliance, the department cut off electricity and gas to 68 Mechanic St. United Illuminating (UI) officials confirmed on Thursday that power and gas were shut off at the property in mid-July. 

Dillon said the department’s ​“not gonna turn the power back on” until the landlords remove the ​“illegal units” and bring the property back into compliance with the housing code. 

Separately, LCI investigated the Mechanic Street property on March 24 and sent a letter, dated three months later, demanding that the landlords vacate the attic unit of the two-and-one-quarter-story house within seven hours. The notice references a condemnation order, which is not currently filed in the city’s land records. Xie and Ren were also given three days to remove accumulated trash, rubbish, and debris around the property, according to the July 7 letter. 

LCI Executive Director Liam Brennan told the Independent that two tenants living in the Mechanic Street property were displaced by the city’s enforcement actions. One person was in temporary housing for about a week before moving to Meriden, and another, he said, ​“self-relocated with the landlord.”

According to Brennan, power at the property has been shut off since July 10, the same day that LCI relocated one tenant. 

Xie did not respond to requests for comment about the property. According to the city’s building permit website, Xie and Ren filed for a demolition permit on July 21 to revert the property back into a two-family home. Dillon said that permit is still under review by the Building Department.

"Illegal Apartments" On Minor

The city has also cited Xie and Ren, multiple times over multiple years, for overcrowding a brutalist cinderblock building at 154 Minor St.

According to an ​“Illegal Use and Occupancy” notice sent in October 2014, the Building Department discovered that the commercial space, which was previously a senior community center, had been converted into six apartments ​“without the required approval, permits, and compliance inspections.” The department found three complete bathrooms, three shower stalls, six gas stoves with piping from the basement, and electrical installations within the walls, all constructed without city oversight.

Five years later, in July 2019, the city sent another ​“Illegal Use and Occupancy” letter stating that the structure has been converted into six apartments without approvals. The notice added that the three-story structure only had ​“one means of egress, possible no fire or dwelling unit separations, and no sprinkler systems,” constituting further housing code violations.

In that notice, the landlord was ordered to immediately vacate the non-compliant units and schedule an inspection with the Building Department. 

Three years after that, LCI condemned the property for ​“present[ing] a serious hazard to the health and safety of the occupant” and noted the building’s outstanding housing code violations. That March 2022 letter ordered, ​“no one shall be permitted to reoccupy this dwelling unit, nor remove the posted condemnation notice, without obtaining written permission to do so from this department.”

In the same week, another notice from the Building Department was sent out, reiterating that the former community center ​“ha[d] been reoccupied on all three (3) floors without the required permit(s), approval(s), and/or Certificate of Occupancy.” The letter also mentioned the building’s lack of egress options and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. 

The department had also discovered that ​“students [were] using the building as a dormitory,” according to the notice.

In April 2023, Xie and Ren received city approval for a permit allowing the commercial building to be converted into three residential units, one on each floor.

And then on Aug. 1 of this year, nearly 11 years since the first notice of violation was served, the Building Department notified the landlords that a ​“site visit revealed that a business previously changed into three apartments [was] converted into six illegal apartments without the required permit(s) and approval(s).”

The letter states that “[UI was] called” and ​“Southern CT Gas power [was] shut off.” UI officials confirmed Thursday that gas was disconnected in late July and that there had been no electrical usage since then either. 

Xie and Ren were given seven days upon receipt of the letter to ​“remove or remedy” the violations. 

According to Dillon and Brennan, the city’s most recent inspection of 154 Minor was prompted by a fire alarm. Several departments investigated the property and discovered that dividing walls had been illegally constructed on each floor of the three-story building.

Dillon said he does not think anyone is currently living in the property. 

Brennan told the Independent that two units’ worth of tenants at 154 Minor St. ​“were temporarily relocated” by LCI at the end of July. 

He added that while the property is not currently condemned, LCI is in the process of issuing a condemnation letter, with the goal of making it ​“unmistakably clear to the landlord” that no one may live in the property until it is brought up to code. 

When the Independent visited the building on Wednesday, the front door was blocked by a zip-tied and duct-taped gate. There was a single piece of mail visible at the property, addressed to a tenant on ​“154 Minor St Fl 1.”

Xie did not respond to requests for comment about 154 Minor, either. According to Dillon, the landlords have already started taking down the illegal dividing walls on each floor of the property.