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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Steven Meldahl Makes a Decision
6:30 AM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Steven Meldahl Makes a Decision
A meeting had been scheduled with slumlord, Steven Meldahl, to discuss the matter of his verbose list of violations pertaining to his investment properties. These violations range from causing urban blight, tax evasion, and unpaid municipal fines, some of these fines date back to times before Bill Clinton was elected President. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot to talk about. Some people, that happen to be a lot kinder, gentler, and certainly more forgiving than myself, wanted an opportunity to have a reasonable discussion with this man.
The meeting had been scheduled to take place on December 21st. The day before, Meldahl made the decision to not face the music and said this in his cancellation e-mail.
"Nothing ever gets accomplished at "community meetings". Having owned a few businesses that dealt with the public at large over the last 40 years, I have found that the only way things get accomplished is meeting with a small select group of people who are in a position to make changes and lead others. Community meetings are for the most part for politicians to stump for an agenda or gather votes with the public." - Steven Meldahl
In your life you make decisions every day. There are no do-overs, no second chances if you screw things up the first time. You have to live with the decisions you make, and in the end you are those decisions.
A spiritual person might say that Steven Meldahl will be judged by a higher power. However, since I’m not of that persuasion I’ll just say that history will have to make its own judgments. And since our history’s first draft of tribulations like these are chronicled in local blogs like the Irving Inquisition, it’s more important than ever to keep writing about documenting the actions taken by white collar criminals like Steven Meldahl.
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| Minneapolis Slumlord, Steven Meldahl |
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24 comments:
Throw the book at this sucker!
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hennepinattorney.org%2FCommunityProsecution%2FNuisanceLaw%2Ftabid%2F207%2FDefault.aspx&rct=j&q=mn%20Nuisance%20laws&ei=S2cbTdTfBY-jnQf46f3-DQ&usg=AFQjCNFknon8Mj0ATKYHJop0hVli9FlB4w&sig2=oC4uswbwrFX-n4lax1EA1w&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.leg.state.mn.us%2Fhrd%2Fpubs%2Fnuislaws.pdf&rct=j&q=mn%20Nuisance%20laws&ei=S2cbTdTfBY-jnQf46f3-DQ&usg=AFQjCNEiFeem0_f8EJ5WWXCR1Sfjz85hPQ&sig2=n8mbcVgSBcPR-U2oyzOlow&cad=rja
State Law gives remedies for landlords shirking there responsibilities to the community under MN Statute 617 Nuisance Laws that call for Public remedies ranging from Fines, Bonds, Abatement, Receivership, Loss of Licenses to Rent, Condemnation,and Jail sentences.
There are also Private remedies with financial penalties or abatement proceedings; however the burden of proof would largely fall upon civil documentation and enforcement.
Why doesn't the City or County Attorney step in to protect the Communities rights?
Having received a copy of the agenda via e-mail, I was not surprised he canceled. The agenda that you wrote made the meeting look more like an ambush, than a meeting designed to address and find solutions for property concerns. You had quite a line-up of "hit men" waiting for this particular slumlord to walk through the door so you could blast him away with the improvised explosive devices they had in their arsenal.
And you made sure to invite the public so after he was attacked, you could string him up for a public lynching.
Next time you might consider a less theatrical approach, and invite him, or any other slumlord, to sit down with a few JACC representatives where you could address your concerns, and work with the man on possible solutions.
You might also want to look up the word, "Detente". You might find it a better approach than your method perpetuating the war.
Or, let someone with more diplomatic skills schedule and run the meeting.
^
I agree with Ray.
Whether or not Steve is right or wrong, in his place I would not have met with you under these circumstances. This especially after what you've posted on your blog. The damage is done so i'd pretty much do my thing as there is no longer any benefit to trying to win support. I might however clean up my act but I would not do it in any respect to the folks calling that meeting. Maybe try another approach with the next guy I think you burned your bridge here.
I slapped up that wanted poster image as a picture icon on my blog. I figured you wouldn't mind. I think we should go protest in front of his house.
What he means is - "I want to deal with a small group of people who are not empowered and my promises aren't held accountable."
Danny Bonaduces evil twin Skippy.
Is that all his cancellation email said and who did he send it to? It seems to me that he would have given a better reason than just this. Obviously now, there is an open line of communication. I would think you would want to keep communicating your exact grievances with him, rather than just keep ranting!
I sent a couple of emails, and I think the lines of communication are closed. Eric has not only burned the bridge but demolished what's left into the river. Eric and John Hoff's lack of mediation skills and penchant for antagonism has done nothing but create a bigger problem, one that could have been easily solved by being diplomatic rather than acrimonious.
You know, I think people like Eric and John have a right, and a damn good reason, to be pissed off at Meldahl and others like him. And sugarcoating an approach to "deal" with them isn't going to make an ounce of difference. These guys have a pretty huge ego to even do their business like this and aren't going to humble down just because the neighbors of their blighted properties are suffering in multiple ways due to their indifference and greed.
Why, one slumlord on my block (the house is now torn down) had tenants with DAILY 911 and 311 calls on everything from a mistreated pet, fires, domestics, drug dealing, shots fired, etc ... when we told him to be more selective about who he rents to, he told us to move if we didn't like the neighborhood. FUCK YOU, I said! You move HERE and live next door to these assholes!
The exposure of this landlord's unpaid bills on his rental properties is one small step in educating self-respecting, resident homeowners in NOMI on what exactly is the major factor in the decline on the value of their properties -- uncared for rental properties and lousy tenants.
These guys could do so much better because a lot of rental property owners DO do better! The difference is, they live nearby, screen their tenants and provide a well-kept and maintained property for the money. They still profit, too.
Scumlords (as I like to call them) are concerned about two things; getting as much rent as possible and putting as little as possible back into the property.
Sorry for the rant but I've lived in NOMI my entire life and it absolutely breaks my heart to see the way some of these houses are let go, and to be forced to live with such a lousy return on my 27 year investment ... my home :(
@ Ray, (Keith Reitman or Meldahl himself)
You can say whatever you want, but the simple fact is there never was "a bridge to burn"; the burden of responsibility is on Meldahl to get his shit together, not me.
The fact that you didn't like the agenda, or who was involved doesn't amount to diddly-squat. You're forgetting that the guy you're defending is essentially a white collar criminal.
He looks like a nice enough guy to me. I wish you had been more diplomatic.
Maybe we should list the good landlords and their property addresses that anom 2:50 refers to so we can compare or see how they operate their rental properties and what they do differently. Obviously these should be private landlords with a bottom line, not non profits who have unlimited funds, and help educate guys like Meldahl on how he can re structure how he does things. I think that is the best way to accomplish anything here.
Just a quick "economics" lesson. Historically since the late 1800's, values of homesteaded homes in the USA have not even kept up with inflation! Buy a home to live in, not for any investment reason!
I have mixed feelings on all of this. On the one hand, I sympathize with Meldahl's comment. I wasn't really sure what the point of the meeting was other than to bash him, though I'm not intimately involved so I could be missing something there. On the other hand, he certainly does need to get his sh*t together and be more respectful of the communities in which his properties are located.
Of course, if Meldahl would just fulfill his legal obligations, there would be no need for anyone to meet with him. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the slightest interest in trying to fulfill his boring legal obligations, and therefore sees the offer of a meeting as an opportunity to dump complete responsibility for his dangerous slummy properties onto the victims--the neighbors. Nothing can be accomplished by meeting with him, since he has no interest in trying to look like a legitimate business person. Meetings with negligent property owners only work when the property owner is someone who has just gotten in over their head accidentally. Mendahl, on the other hand, like Reitman, got in the business precisely because cutting corners is where the short-term profit is, even though in the long term it destroys the neighborhood. Cutting corners isn't just part of the business plan, it's the whole business plan.
Trying to "redeem" professional slumlords like Mendahl and Reitman is like setting up a meeting with a checkbook thief or pyramid schemer or somebody and asking them if they'd be interested in getting a legitimate job actually doing some kind of work.
Arrrrgh,
Mates, this bloke is ~ $200K pieces of eight in the arrears, Aye, the II has carefully Chronicled "No offense Hillside" the swabs mishap pend behavior, some of you blokes are looking like bleeding left wing-nuts! Feel sorry for the poor slum lord while he takes advantage of the not-so-lucky and fails to keep even with his financial obligations to those that help keep his tenants in food clothes and shelter! Are you blokes out of your blasted mind? What be your course? Let the swab blast thee out of the water? Neigh, the captain agrees with II run out the guns, Time for the full broad side! Happy "Blow-em out of the water" New Year!
What is there to protest? He has complied with all applicable laws and appears to be smart enough to use them to his advantage! I checked his tax court cases and he has done nothing wrong. I think you should do your homework better. People look up to Trump in New York! I think all of you are afraid to talk with him cuz he knows what he is doing, and all of you are rookies! I would venture to say that 40 years of his doing this work speaks for itself! Any of you folks done this for that long? By the way, he helped me on a condemnation case 30 years ago when my attorney hired him as an expert witness and I still live here in Camden. He was the consummate professional!
Sorry, not Reitman or Meldahl, not even KAHN!! (Picture Capt. Kirk yelling that).
Anon 10:39
You mean this expert?
Local Native Elder files suit against North Side Landlord:
‘Property Expert’ allegedly harassing and taking unfair advantage of homeowner
By Jean Pagano
A Minneapolis Native elder is filing suit in Hennepin County against a longtime local landlord, a city of Minneapolis employee, and a mortgage specialist for defrauding, swindling, and deceiving the plaintiff out of her home and life savings. The Minneapolis homeowner and Leech Lake enrollee, Ms. Deloris Wakefield, is charging that the three named individuals have intended to financially exploit her. Additionally, allegations of fraud concerning the three defendants have also been raised.
According to a complaint filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the so-called ‘property expert’, Mr. Steve Meldahl and his company, S.J.M. Properties, along with Ms. Katrina Deloach, a city of Minneapolis employee, and John Curtis, working under the assumed letterhead Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage Inc, have had questionable dealings concerning the Wakefield residence in Minneapolis.
The case was brought to the attention of a local law firm by the head of the American Indian Housing and Community Development Corporation (AIHCDC), Mr. Paul Moen. The AIHCDC became aware of the situation with the Wakefield home through Minneapolis inspections and through Mr. Bill Carter, an American Indian advocate for the City of Minneapolis. According to the complaint, Mr. Meldahl claimed that he had invested $32,000 in rehabilitation work on the Wakefield property although he had no signed contract with Ms. Wakefield, nor were either Meldahl or S.J.M. Properties listed on any of the permits in force.
Moen has also claimed that Meldahl and S.J.M. Properties “work under a guise of a ‘helping’ organization for the disadvantaged [but] are actually setting up situations where the homeowner or tenant will fail to keep their part of some agreement and are forced to vacate property thereby allowing [for] quick and ‘legal’ possession of the property.”
In May of this year, the utilities for the Wakefield property were transferred to SJM Properties. Also in May, Meldahl installed a lockbox on Ms. Wakefield’s home thereby preventing her from entering her home. An employee of Steve Meldahl’s allegedly contacted Wakefield in May with some papers to sign, telling her that a lien had been filed against her home. On May 15th, a lien was filed with the Hennepin County Recorder for the amount of $31,085.
Mr. Meldahl was reported to the Hennepin County Attorneys’ Office on May 9th. Ms. Wakefield’s counsel was advised that Meldahl’s actions might be in violation of Minnesota Statutes Annotated Section 609.2335, the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
The complaint to the Minnesota Department of Commerce further states that there appears to be evidence of wrongdoing by Meldahl, Curtis, and Deloach, all connected to Ms. Wakefield and her property. Mr. Meldahl allegedly intended to financially exploit Ms. Wakefield by a) promoting himself as a licensed contractor and obtaining permits for work on the Wakefield home in Ms. Wakefield’s name, b) wrongfully filing a lien on the Wakefield home, c) working fraudulently with or without Ms. Deloach’s knowledge to change the taxpayer information on the property, d) working fraudulently with or without Ms. Deloach’s knowledge to change the utility information on the property, e) colluding with Mr. Curtis to obtain a reverse mortgage in favor of Mr. Meldahl or SJM Properties, under the guise of the Wells Fargo family of companies, and f) contributing to the demise of the Wakefield property which has led to the condemnation or delay in repair to make the home habitable.
Ms. Wakefield has been moving from motel to motel and from one relatives’ home to another and must continue to do so until her home is restored.
What a total crock of shit! I was a member of the MPRAC when Ms. Wakefield came to our group for help because her house at 3037 18th Ave. S. was scheduled to be demolished by the City. We all met with her and told her that Meldahl had the most experience and expertise in stopping the demo and then doing the Code Compliance work. Ms. Wakefield's house had been totally trashed out by her own relatives and subsequently condemned by the City while she taught school up on the Indian Reservation. Meldahl stopped the City demo, and lent Ms. Wakefield over $30,000 to do the total rehab work. She signed promissory notes to that effect. When Ms. Wakefield could not find a general contractor to do the work, Meldahl agreed to have his own crew do the work at his actual cost, which was done. Meldahl had in his agreement that Wakefield knew he was no longer a licensed contractor, but would still over see the project. After approximately 90% of the work was done, Wakefield said her oldest son could finish the work of putting in the carpet and vinyl floors in the kitchen and bath. Meldahl said no problem. Wakefield then proceeded to screw Meldahl out of all the money he had lent her, hired a large "pro bono" law firm to state that somehow he had done something wrong by filing a mechanic's lien to protect his rehab efforts and loan, and because the amount was over $15,000, he lost because any work over $15,000 has to be done by a licensed contractor. We at MPRAC met to discuss funding an appeal, but Meldahl said he did not want to use MPRAC funds for this. She then moved in to the house before getting her certificate of code compliance. We alerted the City to this and she was kicked out. She eventually conned the local neighborhood group to lend her the money to do the final finish work. She was quite the master manipulator and as one of our native american members said, she has the "matriarchal syndrome" which in their culture means she was entitled to all this for free because of all she had been through raising 7 kids. So in a nutshell, Meldahl saved her from having the house torn down, rehabbed it for free, and the house is probably worth $150,000. The Complaint you reference above was dismissed, of course!
I was surprised that Meldahl even initially agreed to the meeting as well. My understanding was that it would have been a smaller group of residents though, just like what he said he wanted in the email.
I don't know if much would have been accomplished at an initial meeting other than residents expressing our frustration and Meldahl going into defensive mode. But at least it would have been the start of a dialogue.
He would have been walking into the lions' den, but that's the whole point. He's been failing at managing his properties to an acceptable level in our neighborhoods. In the midst of a budget crisis that is causing (the mayor's excuse for) city seizure of NRP funds, tax scofflaws like Meldahl and Moghul owe potentially hundreds of thousands to city and county coffers.
At least the initial meetings with either select residents, the community as a whole, or other elected officials should by no means be pleasant for Mr. Meldahl. But if he's serious about doing the right thing, he ought to bite the bullet and begin the conversation.
The article "Local Native Elder files suit against North Side Landlord" reprinted above is dated September 13, 2002. Old news, and the complaint was investigated and dismissed.
Attempting to use an unfounded complaint, without a date context, to trash a landlord is right out of the Hoff/Goodmundson playbook. Unfortunately, there is a fumble on the play.
So let's see if we got the whole picture:
Steve Meldahl is "well off" enough to loan $30K to a fellow slumlord.
Steve Meldahl attempts to hustle fellow slumlords by being a loan shark.
Steve Meldahl has his own work crew to do work, but yet he some how still chooses to defer maintenance on plenty of properties.
What were the taxes and fines owed by Steve Meldahl in 2001-2002 that he chose to ignore and spend $30K on loan sharking money to another slumlord?
P.S. @Anon 8:19pm, thanks for the honor of giving me my own playbook, I'm flattered. You continue to inform me how effective and important I am and I didn't even know it. Kisses.
Reverse mortgage lenders DO NOT insist that the property be held by natural persons. In fact, reverse mortgage lenders allow revocable and irrevocable trusts as well as conservatorships on title and do not require removal prior to funding.
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