Landlord Criticized Once Again Days After Drug Bust At Rental, Neighbors At New Site Complain

Ignorance is no excuse.

That’s what a second Spokane neighborhood group is telling landlord Rick Sicilia about his problem tenants.

Neighbors of a home at 611 S. Fiske spoke out about their concerns Monday after learning about a drug raid last week at a North Side home owned by Sicilia, assistant principal at University High School.

Several renters of a home at 1217 E. Glass were arrested on drug and weapons charges, after a frustrated neighborhood group turned to police.

That frustration is now echoed by a group of East Central neighbors.

“We’re fed up,” Fiske Street resident Michelle Forsyth said. “We have neighbors taking turns staying up at night just to make sure that these people don’t rip us off.

“We keep logs on these people. We call the police on a regular basis. I don’t want to live by people like this.”

Residents say they have called Sicilia about their concerns, including suspected drug trafficking at the home and a rash of garage and car break-ins blamed on the renters.

The renters, several men, also dump trash on the block’s empty lots, let pets run loose and frighten neighborhood children by shouting racial slurs, residents said.

Neighbors said Sicilia first told them he didn’t know what was happening at the home. When they filled him in, he refused to take action. Others complain that the landlord doesn’t return their calls.

“When you’re getting complaints from people all around your renters you need to listen to them,” Forsyth said.

Although Forsyth said Sicilia made no effort to work with her, a neighbor who asked not to be identified said Sicilia called her several times Monday to make arrangements to talk with residents.

Sicilia also told her he is willing to let the neighbors pick the next tenant for the house.

Sicilia did not return phone calls Monday. He and his wife, Cheryl, own four Spokane rental homes. The other two are located at 138 S. Perry and 604 E. 7th, county records show. The couple also own a home north of Spokane.

In East Central, Neighborhood Resource Officer Bill Schaber said police are powerless to take action on a dispute over bad renters.

“We can’t just go in there and decide who lives there or not,” he said. “The landlord ultimately has to make the decision.”

But Schaber said neighbors can help that decision-making process through the city’s new Safe Streets program, which helps communities get rid of problem renters by filing civil lawsuits against unresponsive landlords.

“Money can be a great motivator,” Schaber said.

For now, he has sent warnings to the tenants, and officers are keeping a closer eye on the house on South Fiske.

“I do know it’s a bad setup. It doesn’t look like it’s being handled very well,” Schaber said. “I’ve just told the people in that house that the neighbors are suspecting them and, if they do anything illegal, they’ll more than likely get caught.”

, DataTimes