43
Youngstown and one of the city’s largest landlords settle dispute for $262,000
Money to be paid in monthly installments
YOUNGSTOWN
The city settled a long-standing dispute with Mark R. King, one of Youngstown’s major landlords, over several hundred unpaid bills for water and sewer, grass cutting and the boarding up of his properties.
The city contended King, of Lowellville owed $647,821 but settled for $262,000. The city will receive $40,000 from King next week, with the rest paid in 120 monthly installments of $1,850. That means the debt won’t be paid off until 2029.
King had 874 delinquent water and sewer bill accounts on about 271 properties with the city dating back to 2000, said city Law Director Jeff Limbian.
King also will demolish nine of his properties – two by June 1 and the rest no later than April 1, 2020, as part of this agreement.
In addition, King will pay $12,500 to the city to mow the grass on dozens of properties in Youngstown, and each following year he will negotiate a price for that expense with the city on or before April 1 of that year.
“The city is cautiously optimistic that he’s finally going to do the right thing,” Limbian said of King. “His track record does not give us great confidence. This dispute has been going on for several years. The saving grace in this contract is if he defaults, it goes back to the original [$647,821] amount.”
The Youngstown law firm Millstone & Kannensohn handled the negotiations for the city.
Another stipulation is King must immediately deposit $10,000 in escrow with the Millstone firm and another $10,000 no later than Sept. 1 with that money used to pay the city if King is more than 30 days late with a payment. If that happens, King would be required to replenish that escrow amount back to the $20,000 level, according to the agreement.
Peter B. Grinstein, King’s attorney, described the agreement as “fair,” saying “it solves a lot of problems for the city and some problems for Mark.”
He added: “People might think Mark has a lot of money, but [he doesn’t]. He’s owed the city for a long time.”
King “is coming up with a chunk of money to the city,” Grinstein said. “It’s a little more money than we wanted to pay.”
If King sells any of his properties in Youngstown, the agreement states he would keep all the net proceeds of the first two sales. After that, the net proceeds of any other sales would be split evenly between the landlord and the city.
King has hired a demolition contractor that will take down two houses – 195 Hilton Ave. and 124 E. Judson Ave. – shortly and plans to have the other seven houses demolished well before April 1, 2020, Grinstein said.
Those seven houses are at 27 Hilton Ave., 67 E. Judson Ave., 127 E. Ravenwood Ave., 1527 Oak Lane, 245 Pasadena Ave., 1535 Ravine Road and 1514 Republic Ave.