Clinton Landlord Upset After Rental Property Trashed

            100 Kirkland Avenue is the oldest home in the Town of Kirkland, built in 1778.  It's on a beautiful street surrounded by lovely homes.  Landlord Warren Evans says a family moved into this property on a 30 day contract.  Under the agreement, the tenant was responsible for keeping the property clean and paying their rent, of course.  Not only did they not pay their rent, but they trashed the home, he says.  And Evans says it took 6 months to get them out of the house, along with a few eviction notices and court involvement. 

When they left, they left the historic home a disaster. There is food and dirt everywhere, steps are breaking, the roof is leaking--the home is in complete disarray.  And as the landlord, it is Evans' responsibility to clean up and pay for all repairs, when he has yet to receive full rent payments from the tenant.

Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney tells Eyewitness News the tenant-landlord laws are very tenant-favored.  "There are a lot of rights in place to remove someone from their home," she says, "it works against the landlord to recover the home, repair damages or anything else they may have suffered."

Together with Tenney, Evans is hoping to bring some change.  "A contract is a contract," he says, "I shouldn't have to go to the judge; I shouldn't have to have the police over here to escort me in to serve the warrants."

Evans says he's looking to get landlords and state officials together to work to make it so the eviction process isn't so difficult for the landlord.