Oakland Blitz cites damaged property

City building and fire inspectors combed the streets of Central Oakland on Aug. 17 and South… City building and fire inspectors combed the streets of Central Oakland on Aug. 17 and South Oakland Aug. 20, writing up citations for landlords with unkempt exterior properties and damaged interiors.

The two-day Oakland inspection concluded 2007’s two-part Oakland blitz.

“The goal is to make off-campus housing safe for students,” John Wilds, Pitt’s assistant vice chancellor of community and governmental relations, said. “That’s the University’s objective.”

Inspectors revisited Oakland properties that they previously cited for exterior code violations during the first phase of inspections in April.

They also attempted to enter properties in obvious disrepair, but were only able to do so if tenants permitted.

Inspectors issued 160 exterior code violations and 43 interior code violations during the operation.

Central Oakland landlords were issued 75 outdoor code violations, and of those cited, one-third contained interior citations for building and occupancy violations.

In South Oakland, 85 properties were cited for exterior code violations.

Of those 85 citations, 18 received citations for indoor code violations as well.

In April, inspectors issued 212 citations to Oakland landlords for exterior disrepair.

“As a result, the city is saying the statistics show there is some degree of success having these kinds of blitzes to get property owners to conform with the law,” Wilds said.

Wilds also said the city is happy with the progress and will continue with these inspections in the future.

If landlords fail to repair or litigate the problems, the property can then be condemned, Wilds said.

Some students living in the areas visited by inspectors said they did not receive knocks on their doors from the city officials, though.

Three Pitt juniors, Amy Phillips, Maria Raco and Jess Elliott, said they were living in their Atwood Street apartment at the time inspectors were in Oakland but were unaware they were surveying the neighborhood.

When the three moved into their apartment in August, they were concerned to find their smoke detectors off and only a ladder serving as a fire escape, Phillips said.

“We would’ve opened our doors to [inspectors],” she said.

Greg Leathersich, a Pitt student living in an apartment on Atwood Street, said he didn’t receive visits from the city officials either.

“You know, we call our landlord to fix things. It’s not that we have a big problem, but we gave him a big list of [repairs] to do, and he just comes and goes whenever,” Leathersich said.

Wilds insisted that the inspectors covered as much ground as they could.

“They did a sweep,” Wilds said. “They must have had a half dozen or maybe a dozen inspectors with four or five fire inspectors. I don’t know if they knocked on every door, but they knocked on doors of properties that showed signs of sloppiness outside.”