Andrew Jarrett
A Jamestown Housing Court Judge has fined a local property owner more than $30,000 after finding him guilty on multiple code violations in regards to 15 properties in the City of Jamestown.
The City of Jamestown brought the cases before Housing Court Judge John LaMancuso on Friday. The defendant, Andrew Jarrett, did not appear in court nor did he send legal representation.
Housing Code violations ranged from properties having trees near the foundation, junk and debris issues; several cases where the structure of a porch on the house was near imminent failure or a hazard, a house that has a foot of pigeon feces in the attic, and several cases where the electric and water systems had been damaged. There also were three properties where Jarrett was found guilty for not registering vacant properties with the City of Jamestown.
Under the ordinance passed in March 2024, residential property owners are required to register a vacant property for a fee of $250. Fees will increase for vacant residential properties each year.
The ordinance also states that a Certificate of Occupancy must be obtained before the property is occupied to ensure the health and safety of individuals in the building.
Jamestown Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said that while the properties are owned by various limited liability companies (LLCs), they could all be tied to Jarrett.
She said there are a significant number of LLCs that are owned by one agent or one responsible party, “Mr. Jarrett is not the only one so we’ve been trying to strategize on making the code enforcement process more streamlined, more efficient, and more effective. And, getting proper service on LLCs has proven to be difficult, so as a department we have strategized what the process needs to be. So, I think this is evidence of the work that we’ve done to better streamline that process.”
Surdyk said the DOD will continue to prosecute other LLCs who violate the City Code.
While Andrew Jarrett is facing fines of at least $30,350, if he does not pay the fines within 30 days, Surdyk said the City will then have the capability to perform remediation on his properties, “That’s a slippery slope because, of course, having the funding to do that is something that we have to consider. However, maintaining the ability granted by the court to do so, especially in the cases where life, health and safety are severely at risk is important. In some cases it might be simply securing a property that we’re not able to secure without that proper permission. And, in other cases it may be that demolition if it is determined that is necessary.”
Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo said the City can also execute a lien on the properties and get the deed to the properties should the owner not pay the fines.
He added that when it came to the cases in court on Friday, Andrew Jarrett had not been responsive to multiple attempts to contact him, “Prior to taking any matter to court or to trial, the City tries to work with property owners to remediate any violations and address any neighborhood concerns especially more so with landlords because we know that it’s a business for them and, ideally, they’d like to be good business owners within the community. So, so far, we can say that Mr. Jarrett ignore the City’s violation notices, he then ignored the City’s appearance tickets, and he subsequently ignored the City’s certified notices to appear in court.”
Judge LaMancuso expressed that when it came to the fines, he’d rather see Jarrett use the money to make repairs on his properties, but seeing as Jarrett did not appear in court LaMancuso had no other option.
The properties and LLCs owned by Andrew Jarrett that were brought to Housing Court this past Friday include:
225 Prospect Street – JMST RE LLC
117 Boardhead Avenue – Cornerstone CAP JMST LLC
21 Sturges Street – Dynamic Rentals LLC
221 Fulton Street – Blue RE LLC
412 Lincoln Street – Northside Rentals LLC
23 Weeks Street – Legacy Apartments LLC
283 Fairmount Avenue – JMST PROP LLC
24 Chautauqua Avenue – Dynamic Rentals LLC
100 Liberty Street – Cornerstone CAP JMST LLC
12 and 12 ½ Hall Avenue – Titan RE LLC
912 North Main Street – Red Brick Tree LLC
98 Myrtle Street – Pinnacle RE LLC
29 Linden Avenue – Chautauqua Acquisitions
290 Broadhead Avenue – JMST South LLC
125 Euclid Avenue – Pearl City Houses LLC
Story updated to reflect correct fine amounts and number of properties in violation of Vacant Property Registration Ordinance.
Same with my house on Van Buren. Code inspector violated my landlord last December and still days away from being one year and no results. I went 3 years without heat, pest infestation, broken windows that were broken when I moved in, trash and debris all over the yard, electrical fires and on going power surges. Due to no heat for 3 years I’ve also had frozen pipes and no water at all several months every winter. My landlord evades legal ramifications and my kids and I suffer and developed health problems over it. There is no justice when a landlord is allowed to hurt tenants and tenants have to wait years in suffering before an opportunity to leave arises