Baltimore Property Management Company Convicted of Submitting False Lead Inspection Certificate

BALTIMORE, MD (March 18, 2008) Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that the Ameridel Investment Corporation T/A Delta Property Management, located at 205 East 28th Street in Baltimore has been convicted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City with illegally submitting a false lead certificate to the Maryland Department of the Environment. Judge Timothy J. Doory imposed a fine of $30,000 of which $20,000 was suspended, five years probation, and ordered the company to cooperate with the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Lead Program. In addition, the company must pay the costs of bringing all properties owned or managed by the company or Gedeon Thomadis into full compliance with lead paint risk reduction requirements.

The conviction resulted from the company’s involvement in the managing of a property at 4016 Penhurst Ave in Baltimore City and the submission of a false certificate dated December 9, 2006, to the Maryland Department of the Environment. The false Lead Paint Risk Reduction Certificate was discovered by the Department of the Environment’s Lead Accreditation and Oversight Division when one of the documents submitted contained a “Supervisor’s Statement of Work” from an abatement contractor whose accreditation had expired. Investigation subsequently revealed that the property management company had photocopied the contractor’s signature from a pre-signed, but otherwise blank, Statement of Work form that the company had obtained.

This conviction follows an investigation conducted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General with the assistance of the Maryland Department of Environment’s Lead Accreditation and Oversight Division.