Durham landlord fined for allowing too many UNH students to rent property. Again.

Karen Dandurant, Fosters Daily Democrat
·3 min read
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DURHAM — After the town recently received $10,000 from a local landlord who allowed too many tenants to live in a rental property, the town's fire marshal said he hopes to use the latest code violation as a teaching moment.

Durham was awarded the settlement payment in a motion for contempt, a civil penalty due to a violation of a 2020 settlement by Tyche Capital Group LLC, which owns several rental properties in town.

Housing at 26 Strafford Ave., often rented to University of New Hampshire students, was found to be rented to four students. That is one more than building code allows, according to Brendan O'Sullivan, fire marshal for the Durham Fire Department.

The property owner of 26 Strafford Avenue in Durham has paid $10,000 after allowing too many people to live in a unit at the home.
The property owner of 26 Strafford Avenue in Durham has paid $10,000 after allowing too many people to live in a unit at the home.

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Fred Kell, manager of Tyche Capital Group in Dover, was renting the property in violation of the Durham zoning ordinance, which limits occupancy of the property to no more than three unrelated persons. According to town officials, Kell admitted to the violation. Tyche Capital Group also owns properties at 14 Edgewood Road and 21 Edgewood Road, which have at times been over-occupied, as well as properties at 9 Dover Road and 17-19 Edgewood Road.

Kell could not be immediately reached for comment.

Durham landlord has prior offense

Audrey Cline, Durham's code enforcement officer, said there was a similar judgement in 2020, involving 14 Edgewood Road. In that case, Kell also admitted to over-occupancy and paid a fine of $4,929.40. He was given terms for future rentals, including providing information about tenants, to include their cars and license plate numbers.

O'Sullivan said he hopes the recent decision and fine sends a message to other property owners: The town has codes governing the uses of property, and it will enforce them.

"If there are issues, give us a call," Sullivan said. "(Cline) and I will try and work with you to get things back on track. We are in the business of enforcement and deterrents, not bill collecting. I would prefer we resolve issues amicably."

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How rules are enforced in Durham

The most important code standards O'Sullivan said the town will enforce are life safety equipment, like smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, proper identification of the buildings so emergency crews can find them, compliance with fire safety codes and that all spaces have a second means of egress, even if it's a usable window.

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The recent settlement agreement with Tyche Capital Group states that for the next seven school years copies of each of the leases for all six properties, as well as contact information for each tenant, including license plate numbers of the tenants' vehicles, will be submitted to Durham's code enforcement department. The town is also entitled to two inspections per semester of all the properties upon 24 hours’ notice without cause, as well as additional inspections of any of the properties if there is cause.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Durham landlord fined for renting property to too many UNH students