Sharpsburg landlord ordered to pay fines over blighted properties

A landlord from Sharpsburg at the center of several blighted properties has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines.

John Medina was supposed to appear in court on Thursday for a hearing on the state of his properties. Medina skipped the hearing, saying that he knew he would be found guilty.

Last month, a judge told Medina to pay the fines or take care of the problem properties.

At the time, Medina said that he understands the frustration surrounding the blight, but feels overwhelmed with the work. 

Earlier in the month, people living next to one of the blighted and abandoned properties on 21st Street said the home was crawling with vermin and full of mold and mildew. 

Weeds in the backyard of the home had grown over ten feet tall.

The property is one of more than a dozen owned by Medina in Sharpsburg and other municipalities.  

Dealing with an absentee landlord

Medina's isn't an isolated case. 

Towns across Pennsylvania are trying to rid themselves of blight and bring back neighborhoods, but nearly all have absentee landlords who let their properties deteriorate. Towns like Jeannette in Westmoreland County are saddled with scores of blighted houses owned by out-of-state investors or local ones who let them go to seed.  

"A big part of the challenge is that this is private property, and private property is protected by the Constitution," Brian Lawrence of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority said. 

There's a movement across the state to get more forceful with absentee landlords by denying them permits and blocking them from buying new properties. In Westmoreland County, they've moved aggressively with condemnations of the most blighted properties, telling the owners either tear them down or the government will. But the legal hurdles are many.  

"It comes back to this issue of private property rights," Lawrence said. "I'm not suggesting that we need to infringe on those, but trying to rebalance the scales towards the community's rights to live in safe, clean neighborhoods and downtowns. I don't have all the answers."

Of course, local leaders said the problem wouldn't exist at all if property owners just did the right thing.