Several property owners in St. Louis are grappling with hefty bills from the city for repairs they never authorized.
These charges, linked to the city’s Stable Communities STL program, include fees for work that owners say was either poorly executed or never done at all. Some property owners are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills for repairs they claim were subpar or nonexistent.
Jason Staten, for example, has been hit with a $121,000 lien for work done on a family home that has been in his family for 70 years. Although he’s been trying to fix up the property, it has remained vacant since he discovered asbestos a decade ago.
Staten says the contractors hired by the city left the home with a leaking roof and nonfunctional gutters. If he doesn’t pay, he could lose the house completely.
“What they did to my house and my family isn’t right,” Staten told local news program First Alert 4 Investigates. “[The home is] priceless. But to them, they’ll put a number on it and try to take it.”
The city explains that the program, funded by federal pandemic-relief money, is intended to stabilize vacant properties in dangerous condition. However, critics, including property owners and legal experts, are questioning the legality and execution of the program.
Bills for Work That Doesn’t Exist Staten isn’t the only one dissatisfied. Tony Pitale, another property owner, shared with First Alert 4 Investigates that he is facing a $100,000 bill for a new roof and other repairs on an old car repair shop he purchased. He intended to transform the building into a work-share space for people to fix their cars.
After buying the property, Pitale discovered that the city had funded repairs before he bought it. The bill included charges for floor joists and a subfloor, even though the building has a concrete slab. It also listed expenses for repairing and replacing stairs, which do not exist at the property.
“The city blindly paid for things that clearly don’t exist,” Pitale said.
Robert Dierker, a former city judge and attorney, referred to the liens as “forced rehab.” He acknowledged that Missouri’s building codes allow the city to address code violations but questioned whether the program exceeds its legal and constitutional limits.
“This is breaking new ground,” Dierker told First Alert 4.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office stated that properties selected for repairs were chosen based on a committee’s assessment of various factors. The spokesperson also confirmed that contractors were chosen through a competitive bidding process.
