INC NEWS - [pac2] another landlord question

[TheOcean1 at aol.com]

Not only is Ken correct, he's timely, too.
Our upcoming meeting will be a priority setting session like we held a  
couple years ago. We voted to determine what issues INC should focus on, and  have 
made great gains in those areas since.
 
Your vote will count as to what we focus on next, on May 23, if you show  up!

Bill Anderson
 
In a message dated 5/12/2006 9:40:32 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
ken.gasch at hldproductions.com writes:

Barry,

It is important to mention that the underlying reason as  to why these dogs 
bark (1705 Avondale) is because they are both affixed to  10-foot steel 
chains.  This practice is cruel and creates dangerous  animals from social 
creatures.  Current animal control ordinance is  not sufficient to protect 
our city's dogs from this practice.  The  ordinance is also not sufficient to 
protect our city's peace and  quite.  I think the time is ripe to address 
these inadequacies in  county code.  I believe that the Inter-Neighborhood 
Council is the  best vehicle for this drive.  Many of our elected officials 
are  animal lovers as are many of our citizens.  Affecting these needed  
changes is our duty as good citizens.  Please consider bringing this  concern 
to INC.  Our next meeting is May 23rd at 7 PM in the  Community Room of the 
Herald Sun building on Pickett Road.  For  directions, go to 
www.DurhamINC.org

Ken Gasch


-----  Original Message ----- 
From: <bragin at nc.rr.com>
To: "Barry Ragin"  <bragin at nc.rr.com>
Cc: <pac2 at yahoogroups.com>
Sent:  Thursday, May 11, 2006 11:55 AM
Subject: Re: [pac2] another landlord  question


hi all,

i've gotten a number of offlist responses  to my question, including
several from City of Durham employees giving good  advice as to how to
proceed with this situation, and i thank you all for  taking the time to
respond.

for those of you who question the  approach of going to the police, the
landlord, etc., while i don't feel  obligated to justify my actions, i'm
going to give a little  background.

i moved into my house 5 years ago. i became active in the  neighborhood
association when i saw that there were issues that needed to  be
addressed, and rather than whine about why they weren't  being
addressed, i decided to do what i could to address them.

When  my neighbors along Avondale Dr. allowed their dogs to bark, i
contacted  each of them personally to discuss the situation. With the
exception of the  first occupants at 1623 Avondale, who made an effort
to keep their dogs  quiet, every person i spoke with told me that their
barking dogs were not a  problem, they had no inten
tion of doing anything about it, and i was  completely out of line to
even mention this as a problem.

In the  intervening 4 years or so, i have had occasion to make about a
dozen phone  or written complaints about these properties, particularly
1623 Avondale  and 1705 Avondale, with the Animal Control Dept.
Additionally, i have had  to report domestic violence at 1705 that
escalated to the point that i felt  it necessary to call 911 before
someone suffered serious injury.

The  1705 property had been vacant for at least 6 months. I know this
because i  deliver my Neighborhood Association newsletter to every home
on Avondale  Dr. that is within the Duke Park neighborhood. I rarely
encounter anyone at  these homes when i do this, but when i do, i try to
have some  communication, and encourage the residents there to
participate in the  community. I have so far been usuccessful, but that
has not prevented me  from working with the city to improve the bus stop
and pedestrian safety  problems a
long Avondale Dr.

On Monday evening, there were two dogs  in the backyard at 1705, barking
incessantly and continuoously from 7 pm  till 2 am. I called the
landlord around 7:30, to remind him that he had an  obligation to inform
his tenants about their responsibility to respect the  ordinances of the
community. I spoke with the police dept. at 2 am. I don't  know about
you, but i would not appreciate having a neighbor knock on my  door at 2
am unless my house was on fire. I did not call 911. On Tuesday  morning
i called animal control and asked them to deliver an information  packet
explaining what the law about barking dogs is.

Tuesday  evening, we had the same pattern. Continuous barking from 7 pm
onward. I  called 911 around 10:30 pm. I believe that if i can hear the
barking dogs  from my bedroom window, the occupants of the house from
which they are  barking must be able to hear them as well. If they don't
find that annoying  enough to do something about it, why should i expect
that
they will  respond to a neighbor knocking on their door and
complaining?

In  short, having put up with this problem for nearly 5 years, and
having  attempted the friendly neighbor approach, and the Animal Control
approach,  i have reached my personal limit. I also recognize that this
is not a  problem merely for me, but for the entire community. And if
the police  department suddenly realize that they are devoting
exceptional resources to  dealing with barking dog complaints, resources
which could probably be  better used to fight more serious crime,
perhaps we can start figuring out  a better system to deal with a
problem that really shouldn't exist in the  first place.

barry ragin
1706 Shawnee St.

----- Original  Message -----
From: Barry Ragin <bragin at nc.rr.com>
Date:  Wednesday, May 10, 2006 7:56 pm
Subject: [pac2] another landlord  question
To: pac2 at yahoogroups.com

> here's a  question.
>
> i have a house behind me that is rented. the new  tenants who have
> just
> moved in ha
ve two dogs. in the three  days they have lived there,
> the
> dogs have barked continuously  for as much as 8 hours at a time.
>
> i have called the police  both nights, the first to talk to a desk
> officer, and on the second  night i called 911.
>
> i have also called animal control about  this.
>
> i have also called the landlord twice. the first time i  left a
> message
> asking the landlord to remind the tenants that  barking dogs are
> considered a nuisance by the County of Durham. The  second time, i
> went
> into the backyard with my phone and let  the landlord listen to the
> barking dogs herself.
>
> this  evening, the landlord paid a visit to my house (i left my name
>  and
> address when i called him) and told my partner that he felt he  had
> absolutely no responsibility to do anything about the  situation,
> and not
> to bother him again.
>
> so  here's my question.
>
> what responsibility does the property  owner have to ensure that
> his/her
> tenants
are in compliance  with the law, and are not causing a
> nuisance
> to their  neighbors.
>
> thanks,
> barry ragin



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