Landlord charged with negligence

A Lakewood, Ohio, landlord's failure to conduct a background check and credit report screening on his tenants resulted in fines of more than $300 - with more possibly on the way, the Lakewood Patch reports. John Salim owns 10 properties in the Lakewood area. He received more than a dozen complaints about his properties over the past 10 years, and has consistently failed to comply with orders from the building department. The Lakewood Municipal Court recently decided to take action after one of Salim's tenants was arrested in conjunction with the shooting of a 17-year old boy on Waterbury Avenue. The news source notes in a separate article that the murder occurred during a party on the second floor of one of Salim's buildings. In addition to the teen's death, another man was shot in the leg. "When you buy a rundown house, you often run into problems," Salim admitted to the news source. "You try to fix the problems." Salim was initially fined $312, but more fees may be coming as the investigation into the shooting continues. "He brought in new tenants who have extensive criminal records - and who were involved in this Waterbury shooting," Lakewood law director Kevin Butler told the media outlet. "All he had to do was a simple background check and he didn’t."