Baltimore County Administrative Law Judge Lawrence Stahl has ruled that a house at 7515 Knollwood Road in Towson is illegally operating as a boarding or rooming house.
Stahl ruled Tuesday that the house, located off Burke Avenue, has more unrelated people living there than allowed under county law, which says no more than two unrelated people can live in a single-family dwelling.
Stahl fined the owners $1,000 in civil penalties and said it would placed as a lien on the five-bedroom property if not paid within 30 days. He also ordered the owners to give the county Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspection the names of all current residents, including a description of their motor vehicles if any and the license tag numbers of those vehicles.
The owners of the house, Natanel and Abraham Shwartz, could not be reached for comment as to whether they would appeal Stahl's ruling.
In his five-page legal opinion, Stahl said, "I believe the evidence clearly establishes that the (owners) have had more than two unrelated individuals living at the subject property."
County Code Enforcement Inspector Kimberly Wood testified at a hearing before Stahl on Dec. 10 that she investigated the house at the request of complaining neighbors, and found that it was operating as a rooming house, partly based on evidence that six cars were parked in front of the house on a regular basis. That evidence came from nearby resident Pat France, who testified that she kept a motor vehicle log of cars that parked outside the house regularly.
Wood said she issued a correction notice to the owners Sept. 30 and issued a citation Nov. 5 for "failure to cease the illegal operation of a rooming/boarding house," because, "there was still no change."
Abraham Shwartz, his wife, Marina, and their daughter, Natalia, testified at the hearing that only one renter is currently living in the five-bedroom house and that the cars parked outside might belong to Towson University students, who often park on the street. The Shwartzes have owned the house for less than two years, they said.
Wood said she has so far not been able to match license plates on the cars to specific residents in the house. But she also testified that she corresponded by email with one member of the Shwartz family, who told her in one email Oct. 28, "There are less than six residents at that property and three are related."
Even if that is true, it would more unrelated residents than the two allowed by law, Wood told Stahl, the hearing officer.
Wood also showed an Aug. 10, 2013 advertisement on the website Craigslist.com, seeking a renter for a room in the house.
Marina Shwartz, who testified on behalf of the family for most of the hearing, said the Shwartzes did not submit the ad. She said a student living at the house at the time posted the ad because she wanted to leave the house and was looking for someone to lease her room.
In his ruling, Stahl said France's log "clearly establishes that at least five vehicles park at the location, whether in front of the house, or close to it on a daily ongoing basis. Photographs confirm the presence of the vehicles at the site."
Stahl noted that the owners could have resolved the matter by stating the identities and relationships of the people living in the house," and "could have established, albeit under oath, that some or all of the residents were related by blood, marriage or adoption. Even though faced with the vehicle log, photographs and testimony of the inspector and Mrs. France, they chose not to or were unable to do so."
Eight residents who live in the area attended the hearing, including France, co-director of the Towson-Area Citizens on Patrol. Some residents also submitted letters opposing what resident Erik Cloyd in his letter called "irresponsible over-renting of properties in our neighborhood."
But neighbors said there's a larger issue — they don't want to become overrun with renters, especially college students, whom they say don't have as much investment in the community and have been known to disturb neighbors with parties.
Marks said this week he is talking to the county attorney's office to see what steps could be taken legislatively to restrict boarding houses, above and beyond code enforcement, but that constitutional questions have arisen in other counties where such cases have come up.
"This is the third or fourth time we've dealt with a boarding house case in the past few years," Marks said. "It's a nuisance."