Inspectors Visit Home of Controversial Landlord

He has been described as a “slumlord” by those living near some of his rental units, but Dario Pini says only a small number of his units have been written up by code enforcement officers. He spoke with KEY News one-on-one as his personal home was inspected during a prolonged reconstruction project.Pini called it selective enforcement but said he would comply with a city order to clean up debris and reduce fire hazards around his property. Pini is using building materials from different sites, and some are not ready to be added to his project until other work is done first.”I’m perfectly fine with moving ahead with what they said and we’ll have it done in the next three or four days,” said Pini.City officials say Pini has kept inspectors busy with a “cat and mouse” game from property to property where problems are reported. “As well as continuing to remodel and construct without building permits,” said Chief Building Official George Estrella. “He has many properties that are in a state of disrepair and so this, his home, is not unlike other properties that we as a city have been struggling to get cleaned up.”Pini’s file with city officials is thick. “It’s been an ongoing effort. It does get very time consuming for city staff to chase Mr. Pini around from property to property to try and get his property into compliance,” said Estrella. As for being called a “slumlord” Pini says, “that is a totally erroneous comment. That whole thing is being blown out of proportion and if they saw my properties they would see they are the same quality as anybody’s property in the neighborhood, but I can’t control the tenants that occupy it and their behavior.””I think what they have done is selective enforcement,” said Pini.KEY News Senior Reporter John Palminteri was there when inspectors went on the property.