The article told the story of a New York City landlord who sat in the Bronx House of Detention and contemplated moving to Florida. In New York, Green had amassed $3-million in building code fines, owed thousands of dollars to the electric company and was facing lawsuits from tenants. Green eventually lost 11 buildings to foreclosure. All the while, he lived in a 12,000-square-foot, 21-room mansion.
Green did move to Tampa and the Planet found that his shady business practices moved with him.
Two years ago, Green was primarily accused of callousness in getting rid of tenants by encouraging code inspectors to condemn units in the New Terrace Oaks Apartments after he purchased the Tampa complex. Since then, Green may have moved from callous to criminal.
At the Green-owned Marathon Key complex in Tampa, which is empty while renovations are completed, Green racked up $37,000 in code fines. At Green's Horizon Pointe apartments, Tampa code inspectors condemned six units.
Then, on May 2, residents of more than 100 units in Green's Amberwood Apartments were ordered to gather their belongings and find another place to live.
Hillsborough County code enforcers teamed up with the fire marshal's office to condemn the north Tampa property as unsafe. Code violations ran the gamut, from electrical problems to serious structural decay, said Don Shea, director of the county Community Improvement Department. So far, the violations number between 500 and 600, Shea said.
Shea is working with the fire marshal's office to compile a report with details of the violations for State Attorney Mark Ober. With so many violations, Shea said it could take a week to sort through them all, but there's no guarantee that Green can be held criminally responsible.
"As Steve Green told me on Friday morning, "You don't see any paint on my hands,'" said Shea.
Disproving Green's claim that he isn't to blame for the Amberwood conditions could take a long time. His contractors may have to prove that it was Green, not they, who committed the more egregious code violations, such as covering up structural damage instead of fixing it.
However, Green has it coming at him from all directions. In addition to Ober looking at Green, several contractors are suing the landlord for non-payment. Tampa Electric is investigating misuse of its meters at his properties.
ABC Commercial Services is one of the companies lining up to get money from Green. ABC attorney James Stanton filed suit this week to recover more than $30,000 from Green for plumbing, electrical, air-conditioning and heating work.
Last October, ABC filed to foreclose on the Amberwood property because of Green's outstanding bills. When the notice was sent to Green, a representative from his office called and offered to pay the back bills in two installments. ABC stopped the legal proceedings and the first payment came on time. The second payment, due in December, has yet to be received, according to Stanton.
ABC executives eventually realized other apartment complexes that hadn't been paying them for work also belonged to Green. Stanton said Green created a new company almost every time he purchased a property and it wasn't always easy to pick up on Green's involvement before ABC's work was done. ABC has identified five other Green companies that owe money.
Stanton's client isn't the only Green vendor with unpaid invoices. Marissa Lovrenscius, who owned Zoli and Son Painting with her husband, said her once-thriving business is teetering on the brink of collapse because of Green. "He's put me into debt," Lovrenscius said. "He wiped out our savings and then some."
Zoli and Son painted apartments that were being prepared for renters, said Lovrenscius. "He says he fixed all these places up and he did fix them up," said Lovrenscius. "But at our expense."
Tracking down Green to squeeze a payment out of him became an adventure, according to Lovrenscius. She once sat in his office from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., when Green figured out that she was serious about not leaving without a check. He sent a messenger with $5,000 of the $12,000 he owed.
Another time, Lovrenscius got a tip that Green was in town and hunted him down from complex to complex until the embarrassment wore him down. "He didn't want me going looking for him when he was out showing people the properties and asking for money," said Lovrenscius.
Green promised to pay but didn't follow through. Lovrenscius is now suing for more than $40,000 that she said Green owes her company. She is angry but she's not alone. Doing research for her attorney to reduce legal expenses, Lovrenscius said she has learned there are contractors with liens against every Green property she has found to date.
Green's Tampa lawyer didn't return Planet messages seeking comment.
Contact Staff Writer Rochelle Renford at 813-248-8888, ext. 163, or rochelle.renford @weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2002.