Buffalo landlord faces hefty fines for abandoned properties: Investigative Post

Farhad Raiszadeh was already being sued by the state attorney general for lead contamination at his Buffalo properties. The city is also suing him for numerous code violations.

Farhad Raiszadeh, left, with city building inspector Tracey Krug. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel.

An East Side homeowner sued by the state attorney general for lead paint violations is also under fire from city building inspectors — and it’s going to cost him dearly.

The city is suing Farhad Raiszadeh, 69, in Buffalo Housing Court for 125 code violations at 11 properties.

Raiszadeh, who lives in San Diego, was in housing court earlier this month when Judge Patrick Carney ordered him to pay $65,000 to the city, half of which will cover the costs of demolishing one house and two garages. He also owes Erie County $6,000 for six of his properties.

The biggest check Raiszadeh could write: $450,000.

That’s the amount he will need to bring his properties up to code, per settlement discussions with Attorney General Letitia James, who cited Raiszadeh, his wife and their companies for failing to remediate lead hazards in 47 properties, officials said.

“We are working on a settlement with the attorney general that will involve over half a million dollars of work, and he has that money up front to deal with it,” Parker MacKayRaiszadeh’s lawyer, told Investigative Post.

Six of the Housing Court’s 11 properties were also cited by the attorney general last year for lead hazards.

The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Investigative Post.

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Raiszadeh was an engineer before getting into real estate, according to his lawyer. He received his doctorate in engineering from the University of California, Davis and worked as an engineer at Moog Inc. — an Elma-based manufacturer of aerospace products — while living in Buffalo from 2008 to 2010.

“On paper he appears to be kind of a distant landlord, but he started acquiring these properties while he was living here,” MacKay said. “That’s basically his income.”

Carney told Raiszadeh he owed “tens of thousands of dollars” in fines before sending him to talk with city inspectors about a plan to clean up properties he owned personally or through intermediary of one of its companies. Violations include peeling and peeling paint, deteriorated porch stairs, rodent infestations, defective siding, fires, collapsed walls and construction without permits.

Raiszadeh told city inspectors that most of the 11 homes had been repaired or sold. Investigative Post searched city and county records and found the sale of only one of the properties — 88 Phyllis Ave., for which the Housing Court currently has two cases. It was one of 47 properties cited by the attorney general for lead paint hazards.

MacKay — who represents Raiszadeh in the attorney general’s filing, but not in the complaints filed against him by the city and county — said his client’s case is not much different from that of other landlords who go above and beyond in investing in properties that need a lot of work.

“I’ve discovered the common themes in some of these cases, it’s just becoming overwhelming,” he said.

1457 East Delavan, cited 34 times for housing code violations in the past two years.

Raiszadeh told Carney he plans to sell more of his properties to pay his city’s fines. He asked whether the city and county’s charges could be included in the attorney general’s case, a request the judge denied.

“What’s happening with the AG has nothing to do with why you’re here,” Carney told him.

Raiszadeh’s court appearance came a year after the attorney general’s announcement she was suing him, his wife, Shohre Zahedi, and their real estate groups for failing to address lead hazards in 47 of their 79 properties. Raiszadeh still owns 69 properties comprising 80 units, MacKay said.

At least 16 children were diagnosed with lead poisoning while living in a home owned or managed by Raiszadeh and Zahedi, the lawsuit says.

Raiszadeh’s defense is that he was unaware of possible lead exposure at his properties and his attorney has argued that the children could have been lead poisoned before residing in one of his homes.

“Because a lot of tenants are in Section 8, they move often, so it’s hard to know who is in a property at any given time,” MacKay told Investigative Post. “If someone claims they were exposed to hazards, it’s hard to say it happened at a specific property, given our housing stock.”

The homes cited by the city and attorney general include three — 80 Crossman St., 47 Langmeyer St. and 71 Oakgrove St. — where children had elevated blood lead levels, according to court documents.

Another Raiszadeh property before municipal court is 86 Burlington St., which was demolished in September 2022. The city is seeking to recover $29,000 in demolition costs from Raiszadeh. He purchased the property for $23,000 in 2017 from Shinyin Management LLC, a company linked to another group of owners who are also the subject of an investigation by the Attorney General.

The property was cited for 15 violations between 2017 and 2022, all related to the structure’s exterior and issues with the home’s foundation. The house generated 48 calls to 311 as of 2014, most of which were housing-related complaints. The property, however, was not cited by the attorney general.

The city Department of Permits and Inspections is also seeking $300 for the demolition of two garages owned by Raiszadeh elsewhere in the city.

Raiszadeh is due back in housing court on September 12. Meanwhile, the attorney general’s lawsuit against him is pending in Erie County Supreme Court.

Raiszadeh’s expected settlement with the attorney general follows a $5.1 million judgment that James obtained in November 2022 on lead-related charges against property owner Angel Elliot Dalfin.

Investigative Post discovered that Raiszadeh purchased 49 of his properties from Dalfin. According to court documents, children suffered lead poisoning at a dozen of these properties while they were owned by Raiszadeh or one of his companies.

MacKay said Raiszadeh may eventually consider retiring after settling his lawsuits, but he doesn’t yet plan to sell all of his properties.

Unlike the Dalfin case, the attorney general is not asking Raiszadeh to give up his entire real estate portfolio.

“The attorney general’s plan in this case is very different from other cases, where he is not seeking to take away his properties,” MacKay said.

“They understand that managing a home of this nature and amount can be overwhelming. They want to make sure it gets the job done.

published 27 seconds ago – June 20, 2024