Out-of-towners who own nine apartment buildings along the 600 block of Prescott Avenue have not designated a property manager to take care of the Scranton rental units in violation of a city ordinance, according to the Hill Neighborhood Association.

The group also found owners of 10 apartment buildings along the stretch never registered their apartments with the city — another requirement of city law designed to cut down on blight.

Ozzie Quinn, president of the Hill Neighborhood Association, sent letters to the property owners — seven of whom live outside the state including two owners who live in Los Angeles — to “assist (them) in maintaining compliance.” The Scranton Department of Licensing, Inspections and Permits also got a copy with a list of the properties and contact information for their owners.

The neighborhood group took part in a recent walking tour of Prescott Avenue, where well-kept homes are interspersed with properties in relative disrepair.

“Most of the buildings owned by absentee landlords are run-down,” Mr. Quinn said. “When landlords don’t live in the building with the tenants, they are much more likely to fall into disrepair.”

The city’s Department of Licensing, Inspections and Permits has been checking compliance from out-of-town landlords, but in a city with more than 7,000 multi-unit dwellings, it is “quite a task” for his small staff, said director Patrick Hinton.

The department will check the Hill Section group’s findings against its own records, and new information is always helpful, he said.

Mr. Quinn hopes other neighborhood groups around the city would undertake similar efforts to fight blight all over Scranton.

“It is not just a problem in one section of the city,” Mr. Quinn said.

Scranton’s rental registration law was passed in 2001 and updated since, including in 2012 and earlier this year. It requires landlords to annually register and pay fees, those who live 20 miles or more outside the city to designate an agent to receive notices and/or violations, and to submit to safety inspections to ensure residences are habitable.

City officials have also been considering bringing a quality-of-life ticketing ordinance like Hazleton’s version to Scranton.

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