Landlord Pleads Out to Approx $4K in Fines

A Newtown man plead guilty to not following local code for an apartment house he owned in Bristol Borough.

Bruce Whalen, former landlord for a Bath Street property, agreed to pay fines totaling approximately $4,000. The fines were levied by Bristol Borough code enforcement officials in connection with the property.

In January, Whalen was cited 13 times by code enforcement officials over a seven-day span. He was cited for lack of providing heat, mechanical failure, means of egress, accumulation of rubbish and garbage, failure to schedule a business inspection, water heating facilities, mechanical appliances, according to court documents.

Bristol Code Enforcement Officer John Miller said  Whalen agreed to plead guilty to the 13 infractions at $300 per fine.

Additionally, the four apartment residence was foreclosed on  in February, according to online county records.

Whalen, an approved landlord in the Bucks County Section 8 Voucher Program, according to the U.S Department of Hosing and Urban Development (HUD), could be in jeopardy of losing his standing in the federal program administered by the county.

Jereon Brown, spokesperson for HUD, said Monday its a decision that Bucks County Housing Authority will make, since they are contracted by HUD to oversee the program federal government’s major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.

LevittownNow.com first reported in January about Whalen being fined by code enforcement. Subsequently, tenants living in the dwelling had to be displaced because the four-unit dwelling was condemned by borough officials. At Whalen’s expense, Miller said in January the displaced renters would be lodged at a local hotel with Whalen picking up the tab for his tenants.

Brown said in cases where tenants are residing on a property being foreclosed on they could apply for an emergency voucher to be issued in order to find new housing.

At least one of the tenants residing at the Bath Street is a part of the Section 8 Voucher Program.

According to the HUD website, a housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by  public housing agencies  on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program. The program is income based and payments are determined by monthly income.

According to the Bucks County Housing Authority, there are  2,675 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers under lease as of January.

“If upon inspection deficiencies are found the landlord is notified and given 15 days to repair non-life threatening issues.  The landlord may request a 15 day extension.  The landlord is given 24 hours to restore any utilities he is responsible for under the lease or any issues at the unit that may be considered life-threatening.  If the landlord fails to address these deficiencies in the time frame given, the rent is abated,” Donald E. Grondahl, executive director of the Bucks County Housing Authority, explained in January

Attempts to reach Grondahl for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.

Allegations by a former tenant of Whalen’s were brought to the attention of a reporter during the winter of 2011.

At the time the tenant in question, despite recent claims by a borough councilperson, “couldn’t find anyone to help me.”

Whalen has history of code violations for the dwelling in question going back two years at least, according to online court documents.

Click the links for information  related to code enforcement and the codes governing Bristol Borough.

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