May 31, 2006
Contact: Sue Baker
For Immediate Release
Residents advised to be aware of fraudulent minimum housing letters
WARWICK – Mayor Scott Avedisian today advised residents that Tyler Technologies/CLT Division, the company currently conducting a citywide property revaluation, is not sending letters to residents informing them of minimum housing violations.
Avedisian said his office has received several complaints from residents who have received letters, purportedly from CLT, saying that during a recent visit to their home, minimum housing violations were noted. The letters then inform residents that if the “delineated violations have not been removed within 10 days upon receipt of this letter, appropriate fines will result.” They are simply signed “City of Warwick.”
There is no city seal – which appears on city-sanctioned correspondence, and the logo of CLT on the letters seems to have been photocopied from an official letter that the company does use to inform property owners that they will need to call to schedule an appointment for a representative to come and appraise the property.
“Clearly, someone has decided to use this opportunity to intimidate others into sprucing up their property,” Avedisian said. “The city’s Division of Minimum Housing is the only agency authorized to issue notices of violation. These would be printed on Minimum Housing stationery and would not have any mention of the revaluation process or Tyler Technologies/CLT.”
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