MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – Near Lake Conroe in the Cape Conroe subdivision, just off Fantasy Lane is a home on Lake View Drive neighbors say is anything but a fairytale dream.
The home is boarded up, with an overgrown lawn and weeds bursting out of the driveway.
The home and the owner, Richard Pfirman, are named in a lawsuit filed April 24 in Montgomery County District Court by the Cape Conroe Property Owners Association.
The lawsuit claims Pfirman is violating the neighborhood’s deed restrictions, specifically nuisances and materials stored on lots.
The lawsuit said members of the association repeatedly asked Pfirman to bring the property up to code but he, “failed and refused, and continue[s] to fail and refuse to comply with” the deed restrictions.
Here’s the official lawsuit document:
“Specifically, you are not maintaining the property in an attractive condition, as the yard is not being mowed and edged on a regular basis and trees need to be trimmed and pruned,” the lawsuit reads. “The landscaping is not being maintained on a regular basis, and rather than repairing or replacing windows and doors, the residence on the property has boarded up windows and doors creating an unsightly appearance, all of which is in violation of the Restrictions.”
“I hope they succeed and they’re able to do something—either tear it down, sell it, give it to somebody else who’s going to take care of it,” Shannon Castro, who recently moved into the community said. “I would like to see something done with it.”
In recent weeks, KPRC 2 has spoken with several Houstonians who live near one of Pfirman’s properties with complaints.
Monique Jones, who lives in northeast Houston, moved her bedridden dad out of their home because rats, she believes from Pfirman’s property, got into his bedroom.
“It’s embarrassing to say that you have rats running through,” Jones said. “It’s embarrassing to say, but it has to be said. It needs to be known. Something needs to be done.”
Following our reporting, Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods hired contractors to clean the overgrown lawn.
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“This is slumlord behavior,” said PJ Jones, Houston Council District B’s Director of Constituent Service, of the nuisance property owner, Richard L. Pfirman. “He owns approximately 202 homes across the Houston area.”
George Sowell, a homeowner in Houston’s Briargate neighborhood, offered to buy the Pfirman property next to him to tear it down.
“After you live with this for all these years, you’d like to have hope, but the reality is nothing has been done. I live in the reality world,” Sowell said. “This is at its worse point, but we saw this coming, and nobody did a thing.”
A spokesperson for Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods said the office is pursuing 69 violation cases against 62 of Pfirman’s properties.
By law, the city is limited on what it can do.
“Under State law, the City of Houston does not have authority to divest a private property owner of their property for failure to maintain and/or secure structures in residential neighborhoods,” the department of neighborhoods spokesperson said in an email to KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun. “However, the State does allow the City to issue citations and seek orders for repair or demolition of dangerous buildings through an administrative process. As noted above, to the extent those laws apply, the Department of Neighborhoods and Legal Department have sought, and continue to seek, legal action against property owners for dangerous conditions at properties.”
Balogun reached out to Jayne Edwards, a Briargate homeowner, who said she’s hoping the Cape Conroe lawsuit is successful because she believes it could create a roadmap for other communities.
“Maybe we can all do a class action or something,” Edwards told Balogun in a phone interview.
KPRC 2 has made repeated efforts at contact Pfirman for comments on our story. KPRC 2 Investigates reporter Robert Arnold visited his home, but no one answered the door or called him, after he left his card.
Balogun visited the offices registered to Pfirman but the person at the business said they had no connections to him.
HOUSTON’S DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD RESPONSE TO KPRC 2 QUESTIONS:
- How many known properties of Pfirman is the city aware of that violate city regulations?
- DON is pursuing 69 open cases for properties in violation of Chapter 10 Ordinances on 62 different parcels owned by Richard Pfirman.
- Is the property owner monetarily charged for having their properties in this condition?
- The Department of Neighborhoods holds private property owners responsible for maintaining their property in accordance with State law and City ordinance.
- Citations are issued for non-compliance after the property owner has been notified and fails to take responsibility for their property within the timeframe imposed by law. The citations may result in fines that range from $50.00 to $2,000 per violation.
- Civil Penalties may be levied against the property owner by the Building and Standards Commission when issuing an Order to mandate compliance by the property owner.
- Whenever the City of Houston abates, or removes a violation, a lien is placed on the property for the cost of the work and the lien accrues interest if it is not paid in a timely manner.
- When State law gives the City the right to secure or demolish a property, we explore all of the options available under the law.
- What city violations is he facing?
- City of Houston Code of Ordinance Chapter 10, which are classified as Class C, Criminal Misdemeanors.
- How can someone keep a property that isn’t maintained and becoming a nuisance to others?
- Under State law, the City of Houston does not have authority to divest a private property owner of their property for failure to maintain and/or secure structures in residential neighborhoods. However, the State does allow the City to issue citations and seek orders for repair or demolition of dangerous buildings through an administrative process. As noted above, to the extent those laws apply, the Department of Neighborhoods and Legal Department have sought, and continue to seek, legal action against property owners for dangerous conditions at properties.
