WITH DRUG TRADE, TOO MANY LOOK OTHER WAY

This is a reply to a recent column concerning the seizure of property from
landlords who rent to drug dealers.

There are other ways to do background checks on potential renters other
than the magistrates' office. It can be done on the Internet, by public
records and having the renter sign a release of information to check
his/her background. If he/she does not sign, don't rent. Also, there is
eviction.

It's always better if someone else can be blamed. The police never have
been and never will be the answer to the drug problem. The answer is in the
people - their beliefs, hearts and minds. The drug problem is so bad
because too many people have looked the other way for far too long.

As a landlord, you reap the monetary benefits from owning property, and
along with this ownership comes responsibility to the neighbors and the
community not to rent to drug dealers. It's only the threat of losing money
and property that caused this landlord to speak out.

His comparison of this type of property seizure to the property seizure of
the Jews in Nazi Germany is absurd. These people lost not only their
property, but all their possessions, money, livelihood, for no reason whatever.

Six million Jews lost their lives because too many people looked the other way.

Dolores J. Wallace

Huntington