Advocates for Social Justice  

Monday, June 6, 2022

Cedar Rapids Building Services

RE: Chuck Davisson/Property Holders Ltd/1748 C Ave NE

Dear Kevin Ciabatti and Whoever It May Concern:

The Advocates for Social Justice is formally requesting that the city revoke the
landlord business license for Property Holders Ltd and any other entity
associated with Charles Davisson.

Mr. Davisson has showcased predatory behavior, in his personal and

professional life. He has shown patterns of intentionally preying on vulnerable
people that struggle to make ends meet by entrapping them in unsafe properties
and using tenants’ financial struggles as leverage to not fix or upkeep the homes.
This has and will continue to be attested by many of his previous tenants. Mr.
Davisson is therefore unfit to manage his properties as he is either unwilling or
unable to foster healthy and safe living environments for his tenants.
Consequently, he has been responsible for his properties becoming “nuisance
properties.” In 2021, 2307 Bever Ave SE became a nuisance property thanks to
both Mr. Davisson and his tenant’s actions. During this time, our organization
assisted in cleaning racial slurs that had been spray-painted on the house in
2021, as well as leading a petition that garnered 1,531 signatures for the lifetime
ban of Mr. Davisson’s landlord license. The Bever Ave tenants were then moved
to 1748 C Ave NE by Mr. Davisson. Less than a year later, that property has also
been declared a nuisance property due to illegal weapons charges and there
have been reports of the house firing weapons into the neighborhood. Homes
have been hit, many with small children living in them. A landlord cannot be
indifferent to violence when it is coming from their property. They must influence
and offer resources when they can - neither of which Mr. Davisson has done.

In light of the countless shootings across the country, the Advocates for Social
Justice would be remiss if we didn’t emphasize the importance of protecting the
neighborhoods in our city that lower-income residents and many
residents-of-color call home. On C Avenue, children play and neighbors sit and
eat together, often on their porches and front lawns. It is a neighborhood that
should be protected from violence. The first step towards protection is that the
families who live in said neighborhoods are given adequate resources - including
housing. They should not be preyed upon by landlords such as Mr. Davisson,
and instead be given safe and healthy living environments, regardless of financial
status. Mr. Davisson has been in direct violation of this standard and therefore
has proven unfit to hold his landlord business permit. The second step towards
protection is for the city to intervene when necessary. Unfortunately, Mr. Davisson
has allowed violence to impact multiple neighborhoods across Cedar Rapids. He
will continue to rotate the tenants on C Ave in different properties across the city
and provide unsafe living conditions for countless other tenants if the city does
not intervene and pull the Property Holders Ltd and Mr. Davisson’s landlord
business permit as a whole. This is unequivocally necessary.

Advocates for Social Justice stands with Moundview, Wellington Heights, and
Bever Park Neighborhood Associations in the call for this nuisance to be
addressed and call for the city to pull the business permit now so that Mr.
Davisson does not disrupt the peace of yet another neighborhood.

Sincerely,
The Advocates for Social Justice