Detroit City Council approved a legal settlement with a long-criticized landlord who owns nearly 300 properties and has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in blight tickets. The agreement stipulates that the landlord, Gaston Munoz, abate 299 properties on a monthly schedule and get them re-inspected and certified by the city’s buildings department.

Settlement Details

Once the properties are rehabbed, the city will cut Munoz’s blight ticket fines — totaling roughly $460,000 — in half. He must still pay off other debts for water bills, taxes, and inspection fees. The settlement passed with a 6-3 vote, with some council members criticizing the agreement as too lenient.

The action comes after the city filed a lawsuit late last year in Wayne County Circuit Court against Munoz, of Detroit International Holding LLC and Munoz Realty Inc., and several of his companies and associates over blighted conditions that threatened the health and safety of residents.

In 2022, reports emerged of tenants living in Munoz-managed properties who struggled to get repairs and dealt with strong odors and dark brown sludge in their basements. At the time, Munoz said he had a system in place for tenants to report repairs and dismissed the problems tenants raised as hearsay.

Only 34% of the more than 453 properties Munoz owned or managed had, at the time of the lawsuit filing, a certificate of compliance from the city’s buildings department showing the properties had been inspected and were safe to live in, leaving 299 properties in violation of both city and state laws.

City’s Goal

The city’s top lawyer said the settlement is meant to encourage compliance and bring Munoz and his properties under the jurisdiction of the Wayne County Circuit Court. The law department’s decision to bring the houses into compliance for the benefit of the tenants was at least as important as collection on fines and debts.

Original reporting: BridgeDetroit — read the source article.