JUDGE ORDERS LANDLORD TO LIVE IN HIS NEGLECTED HOME

Tert
Nov 12 2009
Armenia

A man in Richmond, Virgina, will have to live more than a month in one
of his neglected rental houses as punishment for failing to maintain
his properties, reports the Associated Press (with news from the
Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Convicted slumlord Oliver Lawrence was sentenced Monday to 30 days
in jail, followed by 40 days in home incarceration at a small,
single-story house owned by his company, Bayou Properties. He also
was fined more than $177 thousand USD.

Lawrence was convicted on more than 180 property-maintance violations.

Richmond officials have been fighting with Lawrence over the
condition of his properties for more than two years. He owns 150 to
300 properties, according to city estimates.