BENNINGTON — A civil lawsuit filed by the Bennington State’s Attorney’s Office got underway Monday as both sides argued about what remedies a common nuisance statute could offer authorities in cleaning up the sites of repeat drug and violence offenses, and whether landlords — specifically absentee landlords — can be held liable for illegal activities that occur on their properties.
The case, The State of Vermont vs. Astrum LLC, seeks to use a common nuisance law to hold a real estate holding company and its owner, Michael Harte, accountable for the numerous drug and gang activities at 546 Main Street in Bennington. The residential building, specifically apartment 546A, has been the site of multiple police raids, search warrants, and drug arrests since March 2022.
Apartment 546A, rented during that period by Peter Alexsonas, also named in the lawsuit, was the scene of several dramatic raids during July, August, and again in October. It has also been the scene of numerous arrests, alleged kidnappings, gunfire, and thefts. Alexonas was arrested in the last raid, and police have taken it upon themselves and the town to board up the building to help protect the public.
“I estimate we’ve spent approximately 750 man-hours, over $25,000, just on this one building alone,” said Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette during direct testimony. “There are other streets and blocks the police need to protect. That building has been taking up too many of our resources. It needs to end.”
The lawsuit, a first for Vermont, was the brainchild of Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage and her team prosecutor, Jared Bianchi.
“The aim is to hold landlords and tenants responsible for what happens at their properties,” Marthage said when the lawsuit was first announced last month. “For too long, landlords have turned a blind eye to what is happening in their rental units.”
Marthage feels that just the publicity for this case could make a big difference going forward.
“I’ve already received numerous calls from other municipalities asking about the lawsuit. The Windham County’s State’s Attorney (Tracy Shriver) told me that after the lawsuit was publicized, numerous landlords contacted her to find out what they needed to do. My hope is that we have some accountability. Isn’t that what we really need here?”
The statute that Marthage’s office is using, the state’s Common Nuisance law, allows a municipality to sue an entity, such as a corporate landlord, for monetary damages when defendants allow for continued “open and notorious drug use and trafficking,” among other nuisances, at a property.
Using the nuisance statute was immediately challenged even before the proceedings got started. Defense attorney Timothy Fair, who represents Harte as owner of Astral LLC, argued that the statute cannot remedy the problem in the way the state requests.
“The statute has a limit of $100 fine, your honor,” Fair said. “The state is asking for a preliminary, then permanent injunction against any drug activity and maximum fines for each day the nuisance continues. They are also requesting the owner maintain a video system and that the defendant is liable for any and all law enforcement actions. We request the whole case be dismissed.”
Bianchi countered by telling the judge that landlords have an affirmative duty to monitor their properties in the statute for these situations and not just profit off of collected rent without some responsibility to the community.
Bennington Superior Judge John Valente took the dismiss motion under advisement but decided to start the proceedings immediately instead of waiting for his decision on the motion. The state called numerous witnesses, including Doucette, a detective investigating numerous crimes taking place there, and Harte, to testify on his behalf via video link. Bianchi tried numerous times to get Hart to admit that he knew of the ongoing drug activity at the building, yet did nothing to stop it, never contacting authorities and never starting eviction proceedings until finally, when the tenant failed to pay his rent.
“I had my suspicions,” Harte said on the live video feed, “but I never had any proof that these things were happening. I didn’t want to get into a situation where we accused someone without proof. I didn’t think there was enough there to evict.”
Bianchi challenged that notion, listing the numerous times one of the tenants contacted him to complain about safety at the building, and even his registered agent at the property, who told Harte’s sister —his wife — about what he suspected was happening. Another individual, who works at an insurance company located next door, testified that he witnessed increased foot traffic going to and from the building and told Harte about it. Still, Harte stuck to his testimony about having loosely held suspicions.
“I thought he just wanted me to pay for a fence,” he told the courtroom.
Astrum is a Vermont-registered company but has a registered mailing address connected to a multimillion-dollar single-family residence in Palm City, Fla., the only address for Astrum listed with the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office. All that is required by the state of Vermont for LLC ownership is a named registered agent with a local address in the secretary of state’s files, not necessarily the actual owner.
Crashing in on known users
“What’s happening here is that these drug dealers coming into our community are not renting these apartments; they’re crashing in on known users, so they can sell drugs and commit other crimes,” Marthage said of the situation. “The drug users are sometimes on-board and may be forced to comply.
“The purpose of this is not to just put pressure on drug users or drug dealers,” Marthage said, “but it’s also to make sure that landlords grasp the idea that you can’t just be this absentee landlord from Florida or wherever, renting these apartments out without caring about what happens there. We are telling these landlords that this will not happen here anymore without consequences.”
Marthage admits that the unorthodox lawsuit is a long shot, but feels it’s worth the effort if landlords become more diligent in weeding out drug dealers.
“The best case scenario is that landlords, especially these out-of-state landlords, are forced to take some liability for what happens on their properties,” Marthage says. “The biggest win would be that landlords and business owners think about the police as a partner in these situations, helping with emergency evictions if necessary.”
As of press time, there was no verdict in the case or any of the motions.