Homestead mayor caught up in rift with tenant

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Homestead mayor caught up in rift with tenant

Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell is accused of not keeping up a rental

property she and her husband own -- a claim they strongly deny.

MiamiHerald.com - Miami,FL*

Posted on Mon, May. 05,

BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA

rdellagloria@...

http://www.miamiherald.com/500/story/521911.html

When housing officials recently came to inspect a Naranja home owned

by Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell, they found a disturbing state of

affairs -- from an air-conditioning unit that was no longer working

to mold growing inside the walls and a kitchen filled with crumbling

cabinets.

The tenant, 29-year-old Quantisha Henley, blames Bell and husband

Mark for the mess.

But the Bells, who depend on the rental income from the house, at

13200 SW 264 St., say they had no idea that things had gotten so

bad. Henley, who receives a rental subsidy through the federal

government's Section 8 program, never notified them of an air-

conditioning leak, and the resulting growth of mold in the walls,

the Bells say.

They said it will now take thousands of dollars to repair the 1987

home.

According to inspectors from the Miami-Dade Housing Agency, which

administers the Section 8 program, a host of violations were found

during a February inspection including a leaking wall, ceiling and

air-conditioning unit that was malfunctioning as well as defective

doors and a deteriorating carpet.

A follow-up inspection on April 8 listed further problems, including

ones attributed to Henley: holes and cracks in the living room wall;

garbage and debris piled up; and missing air-conditioning filters.

''This is something that has been ongoing,'' said Henley, who moved

into the house in early 2005 with her three children. ``Every time I

call them and leave a message I never hear back.''

The Bells say Henley is equally difficult to reach, because her

cellphone number has changed at least three times.

And they only learned about the extent of the problems when they

received the February inspection results, Lynda Bell said.

''How dare she live in the house that belongs to us and not tell us

there was a leak and about the mold,'' she said. ``It behooves us to

repair something that's broken . . . Now Mark has to rip out a

wall.''

Tensions between the landlords and their tenant came to a head last

month, when Mark Bell came to install a new air-conditioning unit. A

repair man he had sent to fix the air conditioning told him it

needed to be replaced.

But when Bell arrived, what he says he saw shocked him: filthy

floors, no furniture, and a woman hosing down dog feces inside the

garage. One dog, he said, was chained to a tree in the backyard;

another was in a bathroom tub. According to the lease, no dogs are

allowed in the house.

'I told her, `Quantisha, this is it. This place is disgusting,' ''

Mark Bell recalled, adding 'I said `I'm going to evict you. You are

going to have to move. I am not going to fix anything.' ''

Bell said he knew the house would fail the final housing inspection,

but it didn't matter: He and his wife wanted Henley out.

Henley does not deny Bell came to the house and got angry. But she

did say she had called Mark Bell weeks earlier about the broken air

conditioning.

''He assured me somebody would be out the next day. Two weeks later,

the a/c guy came out,'' she said.

Days after the confrontation, Mark Bell posted a notice on Henley's

door that her $264 rent was late, and she had three days to pay it --

or move out.

Henley paid the rent, plus a $50 late fee and stayed put.

The house failed a follow-up April 8 inspection. The Bells' $936-

monthly payment from Section 8 was stopped. That same day, the Bells

informed the county's housing agency that they were preparing to

begin eviction proceedings to remove Henley from the house.

Henley recently aired her gripes very publicly, on a special report

by WSVN-Channel 7 news.

Lynda Bell said Henley contacted the news station in retaliation for

being told she had to move.

Henley has since been authorized to move into a new home, said

Sherra McLeod, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Housing Agency.

''Whether she physically packed her boxes and moved, I couldn't

say,'' McLeod said Thursday.

Mark Bell said it would take some time to repare all the damage --

ripping out the mold infested walls; installing a new air-

conditioning unit and cabinets; and pulling up damaged carpeting,

among other work.