A Buckhead real estate investor, facing his first of potentially 13 trials for code violations, disputed in court Wednesday that he owned or controlled a burned-out house at the time city code enforcement officers cited it.
But the prosecutor raised a broader issue at Rick Warren’s trial.
“This is a case about greed and taking advantage of others, all the while lining your pockets,” said Deputy City Solicitor Erika Smith.
Warren and his companies own scores of properties in one of Atlanta's poorest neighborhoods, and residents have complained of filth and crime at many of them, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found last year. The AJC found that Warren knew how to do just enough to slide by the city's overwhelmed code enforcement office.
Now he has the attention of Mayor Kasim Reed, and as a habitual offender Warren can face jail time for every citation he gets.
At issue Wednesday was a house on Whitaker Street in the English Avenue area.
Smith said that Warren found the burned-out property because he used Atlanta housing court hearings to make a profit, seeking out owners who couldn’t afford to make repairs. The owner of the Whitaker property, facing court fines, said she gave it to his company for free and was glad to be rid of it.
“I told him that God is going to bless him for helping me and numerous other people who are indigent,” Margaret Anderson testified.
Other prosecution witnesses said that Warren acted as though he was responsible for the property at the time it was cited for dangerous conditions. He had also applied for a permit to demolish the house days before the citation was issued in February.
Smith argued that was proof that Warren operated the property.
However, Warren’s attorney George Lawson deflected suggestions that Warren was in control.
“I may have a Coca-Cola shirt, but does that mean I own Coca-Cola?” Lawson said.
Lawson called no witnesses but argued that ownership had not yet been transferred when the inspectors came by, and Warren had made no agreement with Anderson to manage it.
Judge Crystal Gaines said she would issue a written verdict June 16, Warren’s next trial date. He is set to stand trial another 12 times on separate citations.
Warren has become the most visible example of profiteering in areas just west of the $1 billion construction of a new Falcons stadium. Absentee owners and the housing crisis have helped make urban blight one of the worst problems facing Atlanta.
Reed, who attended Wednesday's trial, vowed to follow Warren's case until he is brought to justice.
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