Red, Pink and Taxes: Left living in unsafe homes
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – For four years, a woman living in a property owned by East Lansing-based landlord Christian Nwobu worried the rental property downtown was headed for conflict with city officials.
Earlier this month, that came to pass when a city inspector affixed a red tag on her home, declaring it unsafe to live in.
“I feel mortified,” the woman tells 6 News. She asked not to be identified fearing retaliation from Nwobu. “This man has ruined our lives.”
She shared a video from the home she was renting that she alleges shows a furnace Nwobu replaced improperly leading to the red tag.
“He looked in my face and told me to stop worrying and that the red tag wasn’t going to happen,” she said. “And it did.”
A 6 News Investigation has revealed that Nwobu owns 25 properties in the city and is responsible for managing 17 others owned by an LLC. Nwobu is not a stranger to Lansing Code Compliance officials. Property records on the 42 properties he is responsible for all have a history of being rental properties.
At least 20 of those properties are currently red-tagged, or deemed unsafe, 2 pink tags and all but 6 of the properties are not certified or registered with the city – as required by the city’s housing ordinance.
While some of the properties are red-tagged, others aren’t certified and registered. For instance, a home in the 3300 block of Independent Lane in south Lansing is where Jimmy Brown makes his home. He credits Nwobu with helping him out of homelessness by providing him a home. But he admits he received a letter from the city notifying him he was living in an unregistered rental property.
Red, pink and taxes: The East Lansing landlord and his 42 Lansing rental properties
“I told him there was a letter here concerning the place. He came right over,” Brown said. “Well, he said he was going to take care of it. That’s what he said. I didn’t question him about it. If he said he’s going to take care of it, he’s going to take care of it.”
City of Lansing property records show the letter was sent on April 26, 2024 – and was accompanied by a $150 fine. The same records show the property’s rental certification and registration expired in 2020.
Registering and certifying a property as a rental, as required by the city’s housing ordinance, requires payment of a fee, inspections by code compliance officials, and that a property owner does not owe property taxes, fines, or fees on the property.
Nwobu & Woelfel – Property List (as of 5.17.24)Download
Nwobu owes Ingham County, as of May 12, 2024, $306,092.44. That debt grows by the day as the county tacks on interest, Ingham County Treasurer Alan Fox tells 6 News.
Scott Bean, spokesman for the city of Lansing, said only past due or owing fines, fees, and taxes for a given property are taken into account in registration and certification. So, in Nwobu’s case, if he paid all the back taxes, current taxes, and any outstanding fines and fees on the property on Independence Lane – assuming the property passed an inspection – he could register and certify it as a rental but still owe thousands of dollars on other properties.
Albert Kemper said he has gotten letters about past due taxes for the home he rents in the 4700 block of Stafford Ave. Those letters, he said, leave him frustrated.
“We got a letter in the mail saying they are going to foreclosure if we don’t hurry up and pay the property taxes, and I don’t know if he has,” he told 6 News. “He never lets me know about property taxes or anything.”
Living near a property owned by Nwobu is also frustrating. Leslie Arnett lives kitty-corner from a home in the 1300 block of Otto St. in north Lansing. She’s watched tenants cycle in and out of the property Nwobu owns on an annual basis.
As each tenant leaves, an accumulation of trash grows on the right of way on the property. She calls it a “trash installation.”
She’s battled with a “constant circus” at the property – from unattended toddlers on the roof to drug dealers to people running dog fighting operations. She said she has communicated with him via text on numerous occasions, and while he acknowledges her texts, she said he takes no further action.
“He is negligent,” she said. “He doesn’t care about the tenants or the neighbors. He cares about his rent money. That’s it.”
Ryan Kost represents the city’s First Ward on Lansing City Council. Many of Nwobu’s properties are located in his Ward and the council member has been battling for accountability for Nwobu since taking office.
“I have had conversations with city officials, with the amount of properties he’s had. He has the issues within the first ward. Many of his properties are in the first ward I have consistently asked for action on this gentleman,” Kost told 6 News. “Especially because he’s not taking care of the properties, has not been paying property taxes and is a terrible landlord to the residents. I have had to help more people in Christian’s properties than any of the other issues combined. And it’s horrifying because these are our neighbors and our friends that are living in these conditions and some of them won’t speak up because, you know, a lot of times they didn’t have anywhere to go.”
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