Property owner complains to Richmond Voice about citations
Church Hill People’s News has details and a string of commentary on a recent article in the Richmond Voice; the article was cited in a thread of comments here at North Richmond News earlier this week. From CHPN:
Oliver Lawrence, long-time owner of much vacant property and several companies including Bayou Properties, complains to the Richmond Voice that his more than 600 citations for code violations related to property upkeep were “motivated by rogue officials, including a sitting council member.”
This some of what Oliver Lawrence owes the City in back taxes.
Currently, there are active cases in lawrence’s name with the > general district court. Info on each is as follows:
> case #gv08017726 for unpaid real estate tax through 2006 for $2,425 > chamberlayne avenue (amount due: $3,093.42 +$657.57 attorney fees)
> case# gv08017727-00 for $2,662.23 – economic dev dept of city of > richmond is plantiff – judgement against standard muffler and auto > center and kim b. lawrence
> case# gv08047983-00 for $772.56 (case date september 23, 2008) – > city of richmond for delinquent taxes through 2007 for 410 n. > madison st
> case# gv08047984-00 for $331.49 (case date september 23, 2008) on > delinquent taxes through 2007 on 2308 greenwood ave
> case# gv08047985-00 for $1,285.35 (case date september 23, 2008) for > delinquent taxes through 2007 for 3718 edgewood ave
> case# gv08047986-00 for $595.32 for 2007 unpaid real estate (case > date september 23, 2008) for 613 overlook street
If anyone sees that good ol Oliver, tell him he has a fugitive file at the courts and they are looking for him.
Those wacky courts… apprently if you have a courtdate they actually want you to SHOW UP.
Oliver Lawrence has not paid his real estate taxes in 2006, 2007 and 2008 for all of the property addresses listed above. Mr. Davis was quoted as saying that Mr. Hilbert isn’t acting as a protector of the taxpayers. Well, the 2308 Greenwood property is in Mr. Davis’ own neighborhod (almost directly across the street from his house) and is a vacant lot that has been maintained by the City of Richmond public works department. This means we as citizens are paying for the upkeep of this property and Mr. Davis is accepting money from someone who doesn’t even pay their own taxes. Maybe he should have told Oliver Lawrence to pay his debts to the city before donating to his campaign. That might actually be protecting the interests of the taxpayers!
The lot is actually on the same side of the street but opposite corner and across the street from Norrell Annex. I wish we could load pictures on this blog cause I have pictures of 2921 Hanes Ave. The pictures show the front porch falling apart and there is human waste on the front porch.
I wish that people running for office had the time to run criminal background checks and investigate whether property taxes for each individual who makes a contribution are current. Would that they could ….
That said, the bigger question for me is NOT why Mr. Davis accepted campaign contributions, but really WHY hasn’t Hilbert of Pantele done something about this guy? Why hasn’t the Mayor done anything? hmmmmm ……
Hilbert certainly attacked Bill Pantele for having unkempt and blighted property in Northside.
Mind you, I am not trying to blame or absolve anyone … just asking some questions, just trying to be fair and hold everyone equally accountable.
As far as running for office goes, Mr. Davis is a neophyte, unlike Hilbert and Pantele who have accepted donations from Doug Jemal. And, as far as Hilbert’s acceptance of a donation from Jemal prior to Jemal’s conviction of wire fraud, there was plenty of iformation on the internet detailing Jemal’s actions prior to 2004 — actions ranging from excellent and wonderful to just plain ugly and questionable.
Be sure and get some pictures of Pantele’s blighted properties ….
The city administration has taken Oliver Lawrence to court. It is outside the authority of city council to “go after” slumlords. That authority rests with the court. The city runs, as most governments in the U.S. do, with three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive. In the city, the council is the legislative body, the mayor is the executive, and city courts are our judicial branch. The city administration (which falls under the executive branch) can only present citations to those who break the law, such as zoning violations. It is up to the courts to enforce the law. It would be unconstitutional for a city councilman to try to enforce the law.
Oh, Really?
It seems to me that there is an affirmative duty inherent in the oath of office in which all elected officials promise to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth, and to protect the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions, that would allow ALL — including John and Jane Q. Citizen AND City Council members — to report dangerous situations and/or actions that pose a threat to the “common good” of the people.
Don’t be silly here, please. No one has suggested that City Council members go out and “enforce the law.” However, I do not think it is too much to expect that they could inform those who do have the authority to enforce the law of any and all situations in which the law is being broken or has been broken.
Of course, the courts cannot “go after” slumlords or any other criminal for that matter. [Grand juries being the exception to this.] It is, however, not the “court’s” duty to arrest and render legal judgment.
It is, however, the duty of all citizens to report knowledge of dangerous and/or criminal actions and just because one happens to be a City Council member doesn’t mean that one should just sit back and wait for someone else to take care of a matter.
Get You really don’t have a clue on how this City government works. The courts found Oliver guilty on 25 or different code violations.
So Get who’s fault is that! I just think you are not happy unless you are whinning about something or someone.
Wrong, boyz! So very wrong.
It is NOT the job of the court to go out and FIND violations.
It IS the job of the court to rule impartially on the evidence that is presented before it.
Where-oh-where does this evidence com from, you might wonder?
Building inspectors. Police officers. John and Jane Q. Citizen. Public officials.
Now, whose job it is to enforce the law and the orders of the court? Do you think judges just sit around and make decisions so that they can be ignored? Oh, whell …. who cares?
Whose responsibility is it to correct that situation?
If those who work for the city fail to do their jobs, then why shouldn’t elected officials let the Mayor and his staff know know someone needs to take care of the problem?
Why is this so hard? Why do you resort to such a lame argument as to suggest that the expectation that the laws and the orders of the court be respected in this town is somehow “whinning” [sic]?
All I am attempting to hold someone accountable for the failure of the system to work.
Why do you have a problem with that?
It isnot at all about fault — it is about responsibility.
And, if our elected officials are nonresponsive to the needs of the people, it is our duty to elect ones who will be. We pay a lot for government in this city. Shouldn’t people earn their money?
Wrong, boyz! So very wrong.
It is NOT the job of the court to go out and FIND violations.
It IS the job of the court to rule impartially on the evidence that is presented before it.
Where-oh-where does this evidence com from, you might wonder?
Building inspectors. Police officers. John and Jane Q. Citizen. Public officials.
Now, whose job is it to enforce the law and the orders of the court?
Do you think judges just sit around and make decisions so that they can be ignored? Oh, whell …. who cares?
Whose responsibility is it to correct that situation?
Now, if those who work for the city fail to do their jobs, then why shouldn’t elected officials let the Mayor and his staff know someone needs to take care of the problem?
Why is this so hard? Why do you resort to such a lame argument as to suggest that the expectation that the laws and the orders of the court be respected in this town is somehow “whinning” [sic]?
All I am attempting to hold someone accountable for the failure of the system to work.
Why do you have a problem with that?
It is not at all about fault — it is about responsibility.
And, if our elected officials are nonresponsive to the needs of the people, it is our duty to elect ones who will be. We pay a lot for government in this city. Shouldn’t people earn their money?
Anyone that has ever met Mr. Lawrence will tell you one thing…he is arrogant. He thinks that he is above the law and that he is being picked on. His properties are blighted and he should be cracked down on harder. I have seen vagrants living in his dwellings, yet he doesn’t do anything about it. He is the type of person that new laws are written for to make people do what’s right. Unfortunantly for Mr. Lawrence, he has missed the “hot” investor market and will now be stuck with the properties for years to come. No one will want to buy them at the above appraisal prices that he wants, and no lender would be so stupid. It appears that arrogance has cost him A LOT of money. So get used to dealing with him, Mr. Hilbert!
[...] premises). The interesting part is the owner’s name: Oliver C. Lawrence. Is this that Oliver Lawrence? Details on the ABC application can be found here. The property is registered to “Auto Center [...]
This is on Church Hill News.
Oliver Lawrence to finally get his due?
Virginia Courts Case Information confirm that notorious slumlord Oliver Lawrence has a date at the Richmond General District / Criminal court this coming Thursday (7/16) at 1:30PM (case #GC09002971-00). An earlier note indicated that he would be facing more than 30 charges concerning the condition of some of his properties.
Posted by john_m at 9:41AM under crime, redevelopment | Tags: Oliver Lawrence