4.2. PCSR 10-27-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Project Narrative – 9754 Viking Blvd. We purchased 9754 Viking Blvd. in July of 2020 under the impression that the duplex was legal and acknowledged by the City of Elk River and rented as such. Not only did the seller leave out the information that it was illegally rented without a rental license, she sold it as a duplex requiring us to set-up a business and purchase the property with a commercial loan. As a current employee of the City of Anoka, which has Anoka Municipal Utility as a department of the City, I felt I was doing my due diligence of checking the legality through the City of Elk River by calling into Elk River Municipal Utility to see if they were aware that it was a duplex and being rented that way. Staff at ERMU informed me that there were three separate meters, with tenants currently living in the upper unit with their own waste and electric bill, but the lower unit was vacant, therefore as the landlord, I would need to put utilities and garbage for the lower unit and garage into mine or the business’ name. This was a clear indication that the property was a duplex and acknowledged as such by the city utility. They also acted as a department of the city as they were able to share with me future city plans as I asked about whether the city had the property marked for city sewer and water in the near future and they informed me that this property is on the 20-yr. plan. I also inquired if I would need to convert to city sewer and water after installing a new septic and well. This was important to me because we purchased both parcels of this 10-acre lot with the intention of building our dream home on the parcel adjacent to the current duplex farm home. We purchased the property through a commercial loan at the Bank of Elk River. As a former Commercial Administrative Assistant at First National Bank of Elk River, I’m aware that property tax information should have been pulled during the loan administration process (which it was) and therefore, again, this would have been brought to our attention if it was classified as a Single-Family Home rather than a Multi- family home before given the loan to purchase. So again, based on this, I completely felt comfortable with the legality of this purchase before it was completed. As honest and well-intentioned landlords, after closing on the property, we called in to request a transfer of rental license from the City and discovered the whole thing has been operating illegally under all previous owners/landlords. I would like to point out that we were “scammed” in this process and could have chosen to continue on that route, but our conscience and integrity prevents such activity. It has been our sole intention to operate and manage this rental property as a legal and legitimate business observing all licensing, code, and occupancy requirements. We have been busy cleaning up the property, as many long-time residents of Elk River (including myself) know it has been an “eyesore” for the city for the past 30-40 years. It was always full of garbage including run-down cars, trailers, and boats. For the record, we are left with only 8 boats at this time and have done A LOT of garbage clean-up. In