Zappala request to use $1M from MV Heights sale is denied
Judge Jill E. Rangos also refused to visit the property for a first-hand look.
By PAULA REED WARD
TribLive
An Allegheny County judge has denied a request by the district attorney’s office to divert sale proceeds from the troubled Mon View Heights apartment complex to be used for nuisance abatement.
Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos issued a one-page order on Thursday denying the motion for a temporary restraining order filed in June.
District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. had asked the court to take $1 million from the sale and use it to install a new video surveillance system, demolish four buildings and repair sewer lines on the West Mifflin property.
The DA’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, and it is unclear if it might appeal.
Attorney Steve Townsend, who represents Merchants Bank of Indiana, the property’s current owner, praised the judge’s decision.
“We believe the court made the right decision in denying the district attorney’s request for a TRO,” he said. “This allows the sale to move forward without unnecessary interference or delay.”
The DA’s request was part of his efforts to make the sprawling complex habitable. Mon View has been plagued for years with a variety of complaints ranging from insect infestation to exposed electrical wiring to open sewage running in the streets.
The conditions became so bad that in September 2024, the DA’s office filed criminal charges against the property’s owners, Mon View Apts LLC., for creating a public nuisance. Those charges are still pending.
The owners ended up defaulting on the $17 million loan they obtained to buy the property, and the lender, Merchants Bank, foreclosed.
In December 2024, a judge in the Common Pleas Court civil division appointed a receiver to manage the property, and since then the receiver found a buyer.
On July 17, the civil division judge approved the sale to Camber Property Group out of New York for $7.5 million.
However, the deal was jeopardized when Zappala filed the motion seeking part of the proceeds. The bank said Zappala had no authority to make such a request and asked that the court deny it.
On Thursday, Rangos also denied a separate request by the DA’s office for her to go to Mon View Heights to view the scene.
Zappala asked the judge to visit the property as she presides over the criminal case so she can appreciate the poor conditions and consider them in making her rulings.
As with the other decision, Rangos did not issue a written opinion.
