Jordan Malfara has become a familiar site for many in Melbourne Beach as he takes his landlord-tenant dispute public.
On most days he can be seen just past the bend as Ocean Avenue becomes State Road A1A near Atlantic Street, where he pickets outside the office of Melbourne Beach Properties, Inc. Malfara’s true beef is with his absentee landlord who lives in North Carolina, but his property manager’s parking lot has become the focal point where he can hoist his sign.
“He waves as you go by with a great big smile on his face,” said Melbourne Beach resident Nancy Matican-Bock. “It’s pretty interesting and people are wondering what happened there.”
It hasn’t been all waves and smiles. Police have been called to the location three times, records show. Once by a retailer located in the same building who said Malfara was on their property. Another, four days later on Sept. 25, when Melbourne Beach Properties said Malfara was blocking their driveway. And again on Sept. 26, when police were dispatched to the area to investigate the report of a “suspicious person.” When they arrived, they found Malfara, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, was protesting legally. No further action was taken by police.
So, what’s behind the hullabaloo?
Malfara began picketing in mid-September in response to what he claims are serious health and safety issues in the Cortez Street house he rents.
He said things began to sour for him a few years ago when his complaint that the air conditioning unit wasn’t able to sustain cooler temperatures wasn’t addressed quickly enough. The unit was eventually replaced two months ago.
“It was running 24 hours a day and never achieving the set temperature, never shutting off, and the house would become increasingly hot throughout the day,” explained Malfara, who has renewed his six-month lease four times since moving in.
He also reported a rodent infestation, and although pest control is listed as tenant responsibility in his lease, Malfara said the company would not issue a bond on treatment because of damage to the exterior siding on the home, providing easy entrance for vermin. Malfara claims to have spent more than $200 on rat eradication tools and says he has already killed about 300 of the creatures himself.
Melbourne Beach Properties Broker Barbara Van Dam, who manages the property in question for the owner, Richard Shortway of North Carolina, said the current tenants leased the home for six months in May 2017 and have renewed the agreement in six month increments four times.
“It has always been the practice of this office for the almost 20 years we’ve been in business to acknowledge and deal with all maintenance requests or reported issues right away,” Van Dam said.
In terms of working as an intermediary, acknowledging the tenant reports in a timely manner, notifying the landlord and helping facilitate the issue being addressed, her office has done its job.
“The landlord has always been promptly made aware of all tenant concerns. The landlord has or is addressing each of the tenants’ concerns and the broker/manager continues to help facilitate same,” said Van Dam. “Melbourne Beach Properties, Inc. is committed to assist and attempt to satisfy all landlords and tenants with whom we deal.”
She noted a few maintenance calls from Malfara over a two-year period about the air conditioner, but said that according to the owner’s A/C contractor, the unit worked satisfactorily until it failed this August and was replaced.
To address issues of mold and mildew, she said a leaking washing machine in the garage was replaced last month, and the area of drywall that was affected by the leak was removed and replaced. As for the rodents, according to her records, the rodent problem was reported by a contractor at the property in June and at that time the owner agreed to send in a pest control company to assess the situation.
Shortway said he’s happy with the service he’s received from Melbourne Beach Properties and has enlisted their services for 14 years on the same property, during which time six other tenants have resided there. He claims there were never any issues until the most recent tenant moved in two years ago.
As part of his agreement with Melbourne Beach Properties, Shortway maintains an escrow account and allows the property manager to approve expenditures of $200 or less. Anything above that requires owner approval.
When faced with the fact that the rat infestation could not be bonded until the exterior siding of the home was replaced, Shortway said, “It did take me two months to decide whether to pay $30,000 to $40,000 to repair the current house, or take it down and put new one up.”
He chose to proceed with repairs which are currently ongoing.
Attorney Jack A. Kirschenbaum is a senior partner at the Melbourne-based law firm GrayRobinson. While not involved in this case, he is experienced in contract disputes and real estate law. He said “the buck stops with the landlord.”
“A property management company is only an agent for the landlord/owner,” Kirshenbaum said. “An agent doesn’t take responsibility; they are only a conduit between the landlord and tenant.”
The new siding to take care of the rats, new drywall and new air conditioning unit in place are too little, too late as far as Malfara is concerned. He said he is not interested in speaking to the owner, and despite the repairs and the fact that he will move out when the lease ends in November, he plans to continue to picket indefinitely.
“I hope to leave the neighborhood better than I found it though; so far a new mailbox and new stucco siding will help my neighbors have something less dreary to fill their line of sight,” Malfara said.
