Need your help to ID the worst landlords

We are trying to identify the worst landlords in Cedar Rapids -- the guys who run dirty, run-down rental properties full of criminals.

While we have a list of properties that police are most often called to, it isn't easy to identify the places with fire hazards, roaches, broken windows and filthy common areas. The problem is that the city's Code Enforcement Division has such an antiquated computer system, that they aren't able to run a query for say, the 50 properties with the most code violations over the past five years. Even the hard-copy files inspectors keep are purged every few years, leaving little more than the latest inspection report and a few letters in a folder.

So I need your help. Do you live in a rental property? Is it sub-par? Do you live next to a rental property that drags down your neighborhood? Do you know of a property like this? Leave a comment, or send an e-mail to adam.belz@gazcomm.com or call me at 319-398-8273.

The document below, listing the Top 40 rental properties for police activity, might be a good place to start. It's organized according to police calls per unit, and as you can see the sweet spot, where you start to see a critical mass of units getting a high volume of police calls, is somewhere between 1233 Third Ave. SE and 1553 E Ave. NE. (Caveat: Obviously, these problems can't all be laid at the feet of the landlord. Tenants destroy property and they're the ones who fight or play loud music, which brings on the cops. But the landlord is ultimately responsible for the tenants he or she rents to, and that's the underlying principle here.)

Rent Lords