Cedar Rapids community members asking city to ban landlord

Hunter
06/10/22

Several community groups in Cedar Rapids are asking the City to ban a landlord form leasing out properties, due to a history of repeated police calls and gunfire at his properties.

KCRG TV reports that the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association, Moundview Neighborhood Association, Bever Park Neighborhood Association, and Advocates for Social Justice each sent a formal letter to City Officials requesting that they revoke the landlord business license for Property Holders Ltd and any other entity associated with Charles Davisson.

They say Davisson has several locations that have been labeled “nuisance properties” and accuse him of being unfit to manage his properties.

The station says one of his properties on Bever Avenue Southeast generated over 800 calls for service in 2020-2021. The tenants then moved to a property on the 1700 block of C Avenue that less than a year later is now also classified as a nuisance property.

The Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association claims multiple incidents of shooting weapons indiscriminately in the neighborhood coming from the C Avenue property. The Bever Park Neighborhood Association alleges that Davisson has been flipping properties, doing construction without permits, and in at least one case, laborers destroying their work in response to not getting paid.

The City of Cedar Rapids has responded to the letters, saying they must provide due process to all affected parties, and are committed to processing, evaluating and making decisions on the complaints in a fair and impartial manner.