Squatters in 3147, 3149 and 3150 Levick Street

**ArcticSplash** · 09-01-2011, 12:45 PM

Here's what happened to the home, the owner of one of these three Levick Street properties rented out, and used Artur Realty to manage his property.

The owner of the home did properly took out a Housing License and a BPL (don't worry dear readers, the housing license and BPL are in the court records).

When the tenant quit paying, which didn't take long for that to happen, he secured an eviction from L&T Court (I've reviewed the lawsuit and its progress).

Then, not a few months later, she broke back into the place. Up until 4 days ago, this is what she was living in until PGW came by to shut off the illegal gas hookup:

Without hot water (or heat this coming winter), the squatter can't sue the landlord to get the heat fixed now that the gas is permanently shut off, plus the PGW crew soldered a cap on the supply connection to frustrate whoever set up the illegal hookup the last time.

The squatter then moved to 3147 Levick Street, which used to be a family of legal renters. The owner of this property died and the executors never took care of the property and by default they are now also squatters (their lease expired long ago).

3150 Levick, which is the home of the owner of 3147 who was their landlord, her house has also been taken over by squatters as well.

Luckily 3150 and 3147 are both part of the estate tied up in Orphans Court and they are on the road to eviction and getting them cleared out. You can't exactly have an estate sale for property with squatters currently living on it using drugs, selling drugs and causing shootings.

**ArcticSplash** · 09-01-2011, 12:55 PM

You might be asking yourself... who put the tenant in this house to begin with?

Artur Realty set it all up. It's there in the eviction documents in the court filings.

**lemko** · 09-01-2011, 12:57 PM

PIGS! Good God, this looks like something you'd see on "Hoarders!"

**NE19124** · 09-01-2011, 01:03 PM

sad part is it looks like children are involved by the looks of the junk.

Originally Posted by lemko

PIGS! Good God, this looks like something you'd see on "Hoarders!"

**Mayfair** · 09-01-2011, 01:05 PM

Unbelievable, and so sad ...

**lemko** · 09-01-2011, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by NE19124

sad part is it looks like children are involved by the looks of the junk.

The sadder thing is that not too long ago, civilized people who took good care of their properties once lived in those houses instead of a bunch of scumbag, drug-addicted degenerates.

**MariusPontmercy** · 09-01-2011, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by lemko

The sadder thing is that not too long ago, civilized people who took good care of their properties once lived in those houses instead of a bunch of scumbag, drug-addicted degenerates.

People like that don't deserve a home if this is how they treat it. I feel horrible for the kids though. What a waste.

**lemko** · 09-01-2011, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by MariusPontmercy

People like that don't deserve a home if this is how they treat it. I feel horrible for the kids though. What a waste.

Unfortunately, this is the way Section 8 tenants often treat properties they occupy. They didn't pay for it, they have no stake in it or the neighborhood, so why should they care? Everything is handed to them, so they can't appreciate the years of hard work and sacrifice it takes to buy and maintain a home. This same scenario is repeated hundreds, if not thousands of times throughout the Northeast! If you put them up in a Main Line mansion, they'd trash it just as badly as a NE Philly Airlite!

**ArcticSplash** · 09-01-2011, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by lemko

Unfortunately, this is the way Section 8 tenants often treat properties they occupy. They didn't pay for it, they have no stake in it or the neighborhood, so why should they care? Everything is handed to them, so they can't appreciate the years of hard work and sacrifice it takes to buy and maintain a home. This same scenario is repeated hundreds, if not thousands of times throughout the Northeast! If you put them up in a Main Line mansion, they'd trash it just as badly as a NE Philly Airlite!

None of these folks are Section 8. They're not paying any rent at all, and not through PHA. They're just plain old squatters.

**ArcticSplash** · 09-01-2011, 03:36 PM

By the way, when the shooting occurred at 3149 Levick, I personally took up the issue of getting the owner of the property hooked up with Joan Krajewski's office to cut through the red tape of figuring out how to clear the property.

Then I also referred the property owner to my lawyer, who found him legal options to getting the squatter ejected. It was a stroke of luck that the gas was turned on illegally and summer happens to be coming to an end (heating season begins exactly 1 month from now), so not having any heat would make living in this hellhole unbearable.

By the way, other people are trying to rehabilitate this block besides me. Another derelict property also on this block has been completely updated and renovated. We are hoping through civic action, we can get these nuisance properties turned into nice homes. This is an important area in Mayfair considering there is Tony's right behind here which a lot of people go to eat, and one of the two bigger grocery stores in the neighborhood.

Here's 3148 that is up for sale:
3148 Levick Street, Philadelphia PA | MLS# 5928161 - Trulia

Given that the remaining problem houses are only months away from being dealt with, this block could be recovered instead of being let to go to the dogs. I used to live on this block and I care about it greatly.

**lemko** · 09-01-2011, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by ArcticSplash

By the way, when the shooting occurred at 3149 Levick, I personally took up the issue of getting the owner of the property hooked up with Joan Krajewski's office to cut through the red tape of figuring out how to clear the property.

Then I also referred the property owner to my lawyer, who found him legal options to getting the squatter ejected. It was a stroke of luck that the gas was turned on illegally and summer happens to be coming to an end (heating season begins exactly 1 month from now), so not having any heat would make living in this hellhole unbearable.

By the way, other people are trying to rehabilitate this block besides me. Another derelict property also on this block has been completely updated and renovated. We are hoping through civic action, we can get these nuisance properties turned into nice homes. This is an important area in Mayfair considering there is Tony's right behind here which a lot of people go to eat, and one of the two bigger grocery stores in the neighborhood.

Here's 3148 that is up for sale:
3148 Levick Street, Philadelphia PA | MLS# 5928161 - Trulia

Given that the remaining problem houses are only months away from being dealt with, this block could be recovered instead of being let to go to the dogs. I used to live on this block and I care about it greatly.

AWESOME WORK, ARCTIC SPLASH!!!

**ArcticSplash** · 09-01-2011, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by NE19124

sad part is it looks like children are involved by the looks of the junk.

There are. She keeps at least 2 kids around.

**MariusPontmercy** · 09-01-2011, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by lemko

AWESOME WORK, ARCTIC SPLASH!!!

I second that!

**Jaysmom** · 09-01-2011, 08:47 PM

Wow - that is disgusting. We parked in front of this house when we went to Tony's the other day. I pointed out the broken window to my husband.

**ArcticSplash** · 09-01-2011, 08:51 PM

Actually most of the thanks needs to go to the property owner and Joan K's office for getting so involved. The property owner did everything he was legally required to do, he was not an illegal landlord or anything. Most of this damage I understand happened after she broke back into the house. He was an investor that was taken advantage of by multiple real estate agencies and referrers, then by the tenant herself, and a simple background check would have revealed the prior evictions or even a credit check here would have reduced the risk of this.

But the best thing is the owner providing the pictures. Without the pictures you cannot really understand what the craziness is with property problems like this. Most people ignore the rants about property issues but when you have the photos you really understand a lot better how much of a hell having something like this on your block is.

**NE19149** · 09-01-2011, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by lemko

PIGS! Good God, this looks like something you'd see on "Hoarders!"

Aww, Lemco, a little Pledge and a dustrag and voila!.... a palace.

**Polar Cub** · 09-02-2011, 04:50 AM

Just one of many. I bet the place smells really bad too.
From the pics, this is a mild case. Believe it or not.
No bath tub filled with kitty litter and sh1t ? No maple syrup, mustard and ketchup all over the walls and floors ? No floor-to-ceiling stacks of rotting garbage with maggots in the dining room ? Copper piping still there ?

OMG, the stuff I see. Jaw-dropping.

I'll have to take some videos for you.

All squatters should be tear-gassed out into the streets, then stoned to death by their neighbors.

**ArcticSplash** · 09-02-2011, 07:41 AM

If I was a victim of squatters, I would personally FedEx a letter to every nearby neighbor informing them who the name of the squatter is and their legal status, plus who to contact at City Council, Department of Human Services, the e-mail address of the affected civic association, the direct line for the PPD district, and my lawyer's name/phone number to report changes in activity on the property.

It sounds like much ado about nothing, but if you let the neighbors know WHO to complain to about the problem besides just the property owner and the police, it does help. Why? Because you can't just call the PoPo and boot them off the property. It ain't that simple. The property owner did this and he obtained a legal eviction on this squatter when she stopped paying rent. Believe it or not, the PPD actively refuses to stand in the middle of clear violations of property rights like this, and it's understandable why they do not---they need to see a fresh court order, they want proof that the tenant is no longer allowed to be there, and oral claims don't cut it. A peace officer cannot act as a judge to determine what the legal status is of any particular piece of property, which is a civil dispute. Police handle criminal matters, and right now there is no clear authority for the PPD to chase out squatters because it's not been codified as being criminal in a way that is enforceable.

If a renter breaks back in who was legally evicted, I have learned through my attorney that you must file suit for a Writ of Ejection in Common Pleas court. This obviously can take a month if not longer. Luckily for this property owner, he did order disconnections on the utilities after the eviction was obtained.

Contacting PGW's legal counsel directly and showing them that the stated tenant was evicted was enough proof to get the gas line ripped off the house at the owner's request. The Water Department was also ready to stand by to saw off the water piping to the home as long as the property owner agreed to break the concrete over the water box so they could perform the task.

And if your house still has fuses, if you can get into the home, you can rip out the master fuse to the house (usually a small black box located at the top part of the fusebox with a pull handle on it).

**LedZep2147** · 09-02-2011, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by ArcticSplash

It sounds like much ado about nothing, but if you let the neighbors know WHO to complain to about the problem besides just the property owner and the police, it does help. Why? Because you can't just call the PoPo and boot them off the property. It ain't that simple. The property owner did this and he obtained a legal eviction on this squatter when she stopped paying rent. Believe it or not, the PPD actively refuses to stand in the middle of clear violations of property rights like this, and it's understandable why they do not---they need to see a fresh court order, they want proof that the tenant is no longer allowed to be there, and oral claims don't cut it. A peace officer cannot act as a judge to determine what the legal status is of any particular piece of property, which is a civil dispute. Police handle criminal matters, and right now there is no clear authority for the PPD to chase out squatters because it's not been codified as being criminal in a way that is enforceable.

If a renter breaks back in who was legally evicted, I have learned through my attorney that you must file suit for a Writ of Ejection in Common Pleas court. This obviously can take a month if not longer. Luckily for this property owner, he did order disconnections on the utilities after the eviction was obtained.

Contacting PGW's legal counsel directly and showing them that the stated tenant was evicted was enough proof to get the gas line ripped off the house at the owner's request. The Water Department was also ready to stand by to saw off the water piping to the home as long as the property owner agreed to break the concrete over the water box so they could perform the task.

And if your house still has fuses, if you can get into the home, you can rip out the master fuse to the house (usually a small black box located at the top part of the fusebox with a pull handle on it).

So, if I owned a rental property and someone was squatting in it, I can't make them leave? They're not trespassing on my property?

Why can't the owner enter the house and remove the squatter with an aluminum baseball bat?

**lemko** · 09-02-2011, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by LedZep2147

So, if I owned a rental property and someone was squatting in it, I can't make them leave? They're not trespassing on my property?

Why can't the owner enter the house and remove the squatter with an aluminum baseball bat?

You can always do it the Tony Soprano way. Get a bunch of goons to go in there, clobber the squatter scum, then toss them into the street. Maybe turn a bunch of pitbulls loose on them? "Gee officer, I don't know HOW those nasty dogs got in there. Some dummy must've left the door open!