A Duluth judge will conduct a trial to consider whether six tenants of the Seaway Hotel are justified in their request to suspend rent payments because the building has been condemned.
The owner of the Seaway argues in court documents that he has been making substantial repairs and improvements to the 90-unit residential building at 2001 W. Superior St. and the apartments are in a habitable condition.
Sixth Judicial District Judge Eric Hylden filed an order Tuesday in State District Court that a court trial be held Oct. 1, with him presiding, to hear arguments from attorneys representing the six tenants and defendant GRA Inc., owner of the Seaway. The court order came after Hylden held review hearings on Aug. 2 and Aug. 20.
Tenants of the Seaway have been in limbo since July 10, when the city of Duluth issued a notice and order of condemnation for human habitation for the boarding house. Seaway owner Richard Caya sought a 180-day extension to replace the roof and an exterior wall and make other exterior and interior repairs, but the Building Appeals Board denied his request. Caya has appealed that decision to the City Council, which is expected to consider the matter at its Sept. 10 meeting.
According to court documents, Caya has installed a new water heater at a cost of $12,000 and installed a new boiler at a cost of $14,000. He also has obtained estimates of $153,600 and $93,770 to replace the Seaway's roof.
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Reached by phone Tuesday night, Caya said that he hadn't seen the court order and declined comment.
The plaintiffs filed a petition for emergency relief under the Tenant Remedies Act on July 26. At that time, Hylden found that an emergency, as defined by state law, did not exist and denied the request for emergency remedies.
The tenants filed an amended petition for relief seeking suspension of their rent obligations for August and thereafter until the condemnation order is lifted and the defendant's certificate of occupancy is restored.
In his order setting the court trial, Hylden wrote: "The issue ... whether the building should be condemned is different from the issue ... whether the condition of these six tenants' apartments entitles them to rent abatement."
"At the trial, the court will consider the condition of the apartments of the individually named plaintiffs, and award rent abatement if that is justified under the statute," he wrote.
There are 75 residents in the Seaway. The six tenants who brought the petition for relief are Jack Monchamp, Karmen Aspling, Jimmie Lemmon III, Francisco Anguiano-Perez, Richard Koening and Robert Schieve. According to their petition, Monchamp pays $470 monthly rent, Schieve pays $430, Anguiano-Perez pays $410, Aspling and Lemon pay $350, and Koening pays $300.
Monchamp claims he has to suspend buckets from his ceiling to catch the water leaking through the roof. Aspling and Lemmon say they have experienced frequent electric short circuits in their unit.
The tenants' petition seeks the appointment of an administrator to immediately assume operation of the property to collect rents if and when the condemnation order is lifted and the certificate of occupancy is restored; and that the administrator be directed to use rent money collected to pay for repairs to the building as ordered by the city.
