Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures and (very likely) misadventures of a writer who seeks to take his education, activism and seemingly boundless energy to North Minneapolis, (NoMi) to help with a process of turning a rapidly revitalizing neighborhood into something approaching Urban Utopia. I am here to be near my child. From 02/08 to 06/15 this blog pushed free speech to the envelope, so others could take heart and speak unafraid. Email me at hoffjohnw@gmail.com
Thursday, March 18, 2010
JNS Exclusive: Bashir Moghul on Verge of Losing Rental Licenses!
Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.
I was driving around NoMi this evening with some wonderful volunteers from Jewish Community Action, and we were doorknocking with the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition to prevent foreclosures. I noticed a bright red sticker on a house and had to explain to these newcomers my fascination with regulatory plumage.
(See Addendum at end of post. I was mistaken about the back taxes on this property.)
After seeing that it referenced a rental license revocation due to back taxes, I thought to myself...
..."There's only a few landlords who both would be behind on taxes AND own enough property to result in those back taxes taking down a rental license."
Now I COULD have looked this information up on my trusty, legally-obtained Blackberry. But the city's extraordinarily helpful property look-up service takes a while to load on this thing. So I called uber-citizen Megan Goodmundson up and asked her to check out who owns 2030 Willow Ave N. I guess the title of the blog post makes that answer pretty obvious.
Interestingly enough, the Hennepin County property tax records do not show delinquent taxes on this particular property. Therefore, I believe Moghul will be losing two or more rental licenses as a result. This will be a significant dent, but since there are plenty of properties owned by Moghul's relatives, it likely won't be a dagger to the heart of the Moghul mogul.
The Hawkman promises a more in-depth examination of Bashir Moghul's rental licenses and property ownership in the very near future.
ADDENDUM: In a more thorough review of Moghul's properties, I confirmed that he owes at least $1,800 in back taxes on 2030 Willow Ave N. Disclaimer: the live link is accurate at the time of posting, but if taxes are paid or ownership changes, the link may take readers to different information.
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8 comments:
I hope this doesn't make people homeless. NoMi needs more affordable housing.
Down with the King (of the slum lords)!!
@Anon 8:31, in all likelihood it will force people out of the properties owned by Moghul. There's no way to tell how many, if any, of those people will then become homeless. These properties will then sit vacant until they are foreclosed upon and/or sold. I'll say the same thing as I did when Gregge Johnson lost his rental licenses:
Any outrage over people losing a place to live should be directed towards Moghul and his slumlord tactics, not at the system that (thankfully) is holding him accountable.
I know the great staff members in County Commissioner Stenglein's office - and I can say without talking to them that if these rental licenses are being revoked due to non-payment of county taxes - those staff members are already ahead of the game by working closely with Henn County Emergency Assistance to move any displaced tenants into comparable, safe, decent housing. One good thing is that NoMi has plenty of housing available right now so there is no shortage to transfer them to.
Good job to city and county workers who have to clean up messes made by slumlord predators like Moghul.
Anon 8:31 said:
I hope this doesn't make people homeless. NoMi needs more affordable housing.
Anon says:
What NOMI needs is well-kept/maintained, affordable rental housing. Every propsective renter deserves that. And if Bashir can't comply with the basic ordinances/requirements of being a landlord, then we shouldn't subject propsective renters to substandard housing.
Nice second-story windows there...
Anon 8:31 a.m.
I beg to differ.
NOMI has more than it's fair share of "affordable" housing.
What NOMI needs is more high quality housing, whether in the form of owner occupied dwellings, or legal, well maintained, market priced rental properties.
Economic diversity is what NOMI is lacking. Fortunately, that appears to be changing.
LEL
I was with Jeff an hour ago at the count government building and he has dug up loads of info about Bashir's situation. Very exciting. Stay tuned.
P.S. No, I didn't run into Spanky Pete.
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