‘Structure unfit for human occupancy’

Home-improvement contractor Ralph F. Kline Jr., already the subject of more than 40 civil lawsuits related to his business practices, is facing new allegations this week for the way he has conducted himself as a landlord.

Tenants and zoning officials in Manheim and Lititz boroughs say Kline has not kept some of his rental properties up to code and is providing what one tenant calls “horrible” living conditions for her.

Kline, of 300 Lakeview Drive, Manheim, is the owner of Ralph F. Kline Roofing, Siding & Insulation. Since the late 1980s, Kline has appealed more than 40 civil lawsuits to Lancaster County Court after losing judgments to clients who have sued him. The actual number of suits filed against Kline may never be known because most of these seemingly minor cases were disposed of by the 20 district judges throughout the county, and the records were destroyed.

Monday, Kline appeared before Manheim District Judge John C. Winters in an effort to evict tenant Traci L. Moore, who paid a security deposit of $415 and moved into his rental property at 202 N. Main St. Oct. 1. Kline was trying to evict Moore from her top-floor apartment because she has not paid her first month’s rent.

Winters found in Moore’s favor after hearing her testimony and testimony from Manheim zoning and code-enforcement Officer Donna Czeiner, who provided the judge with an inspection report conducted at the apartment three days before the hearing.

The report detailed 13 violations, including a missing living room window, a broken front door and door frame, no heat, no water service, a hole in the bathroom closet “allowing rodent access” and a toilet “full of feces” when Moore moved in.

“In all fairness to Mr. Kline, he only received this list an hour ago,” Czeiner said when she saw Winters raise his eyebrows as he examined the list. “I’ve placed asterisks on those items that need immediate attention because of the health and safety risks they create.”

Czeiner said she’s often worked with Kline on his properties in Manheim because he has received notices of code violations in the past. In a letter she sent Kline Oct. 24, Czeiner says, “Based on the findings and the guidelines set forth by Manheim Borough … your property (at 202 N. Main St.) qualifies … as a structure unfit for human occupancy.”

Czeiner issued an order condemning Moore’s apartment effective Nov. 1.

Moore told the judge she was escaping an abusive relationship when she saw an ad for the apartment in the newspaper. When she told Kline she would be able to pay only the security deposit until she found work, he offered to employ her as a secretary at his office until she worked off the $415 in rent she owed. According to court testimony, Moore worked a day and a half and earned $72 toward the rent.

“On Oct. 3, I was walking down the stairs outside the apartment and my sandal got caught on a nail that was sticking out of one of the stairs,” Moore told the judge. “I fell on my back, and I have a doctor’s note here saying that I was unable to go back to work until Oct. 20.”

Moore, who had two previous surgeries on her back, described the living conditions in her apartment as “horrible.” “I don’t have any water,” she said. “The bathroom is disgusting. I tried to make it livable, but there are mice and roaches, and now I have cats that are coming in and out of the hole in the bathroom closet.”

Moore said when she first moved in, she and a friend removed the carpet in the bathroom because it was saturated with cat urine.

“When we pulled it up, there were all these syringes and little baggies underneath it,” Moore testified. “We found all kinds of drug stuff under there. I told my friend I’d do the rest of it myself. I didn’t want him to get pricked with anything.”

The day she moved in to the apartment, she said, she told Kline about a notice that was in her mailbox telling her the water service was going to be shut off.

“He said, ‘Oh, I’ll take care of that, Traci. It’s not your bill, it was a past tenant’s bill,’ ” Moore quoted Kline as saying. “But he must not have taken care of it, because the water was shut off Oct. 11.”

Moore told Winters she lost nearly $117 worth of groceries because the refrigerator in the apartment does not work properly.

During cross-examination, Kline asked Moore, “If it’s such a bad place, why don’t you just move?”

“I want to, believe me,” Moore said. “As soon as I find a place, I’ll be out of there.”

Turning to the judge, she said, “I do take care of my bills. I’m not a bad person. I just want my security deposit back and reimbursement for my groceries, and I’ll get out as soon as I can.”

Kline maintains most of his tenants are happy and their living conditions are fine.

“You’ll notice the people who pay the rent don’t have any complaints,” Kline said. “It’s the tenants who are being evicted that are the ones doing the complaining.”

Kline said he had not been able to do any work at Moore’s apartment because Manheim police have ordered him to stay away from her.

According to an incident report filed by Officer Jay Edward Geib Oct. 11, Moore complained that Kline had been calling her repeatedly despite her pleas to stop.

“Kline has continued to call Moore,” the report reads. Moore told police, “Kline knocked on (my) door and when (I) answered, he grabbed (my) arm, twisting it behind (me) and told (me) that, ‘You can’t get away from me that easy,’ then left the property.”

Geib notes in the report that “Moore said there is not a personal relationship between them, and that she just met Kline when she rented the apartment.”

When police told Kline not to contact Moore any more, “He got upset and mouthy, (and) said he will contact the (district judge) to get her out legally.”

Moore said she was then given notice of eviction.

Though he found in her favor, Judge Winters said he could not issue a judgment against Kline for Moore’s security deposit or the loss of her groceries because Moore did not file a counter claim.

“I’m not going to require any additional payment from the defendant to Mr. Kline, though, for a property in this condition,” Winters said. “The biggest problem here, Mr. Kline, is that there is not water service. You’ve got to furnish water to your tenants.”

Kline asked the judge how he is expected to fix the problems when he cannot enter the property because of the police warning.

“I suggest you find professionals to do it,” Winters said.

During an interview at her apartment Thursday, Moore said she still has no water or heat, nor has she found a place to live by Nov. 1. “I shouldn’t have to live like this,” Moore said. “It’s a nightmare. I may have to live in my car.”

Friday, Czeiner said Kline had repaired the door, blocked the rodent access in the bathroom and replaced the living room window. She confirmed there is still no water service or heat, however.

Under the borough ordinance, Czeiner said, Kline has anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days to complete the rest of the repairs, depending on the severity of the violation.

In all, Kline owns four rental properties in Manheim.

In Lititz, where Kline owns one rental property, zoning officer Lori McEntarfer said 34 code violations were found when the property was inspected Oct. 26. Kline was given five to 30 business days to make repairs. “Mr. Kline has started to do some of those repairs,” McEntarfer said Friday, “but there is still a long way to go.”

The violations include flea infestation, vines growing into the structure, tree limbs encroaching electrical service wires, excess trash and debris outside the building and drainage problems in the bathroom and the bathtub overflow pipe.

Ann Cross, who lives in the Lititz apartment, No. 3 104 S. Spruce St., also is being evicted for owing back rent.

Cross, a cancer patient, said she is on a fixed income and receives $421 a month. Her rent is $395 a month, she said. Cross said she failed to pay her rent because she had to use part of it to call a plumber to fix the problems in her bathroom. “The toilet is tipping to one side,” she said. “My daughters and I had to take showers for three days in a bathtub full of standing water.”

Cross said the flea infestation is so bad she had to give away her dog, Cisco. “He got an infection from all the fleas,” Cross said during a phone interview two weeks ago. “It was so sad. But fleas aren’t the only problem here. There’s a roach crawling across the kitchen floor right now.”

A year and a half ago the same apartment had a flea infestation, but it was corrected before Cross moved in, McEntarfer said.

“Last time, you could walk into the room and see fleas jumping up from the floor,” McEntarfer said. “It certainly is not as bad this time. These violations are bad, but not enough to condemn.”

Kline declined to comment about the violations in Lititz.

“I don’t know what makes me so interesting,” Kline said. “I’m retiring in a year and a half, and I really don’t lead a very interesting life.”