A LANDLORD who’s been accused of leaving a “trail of destruction and despair” with his dilapidated properties is facing banishment from an entire city.

Mendy Kletzky, who lives in New York City, is being chased out of town for allegedly forcing his tenants to live in “dangerous” properties.

On Monday, the city of Syracuse filed a lawsuit accusing Kletzy of ignoring dozens of citations for code violations at 18 of his one-and two-family rental properties over the last two years.

Kletzky has over 100 outstanding code violations, including ones for failure to reduce or remove lead hazards, the lawsuit seen by Syracuse.com claims.

Three of Kletzky’s properties are in such a horrific state, that they were deemed unfit for human occupancy, officials claim.

When reached by The U.S. Sun for a statement on the lawsuit, Kletzky said, “No comment.”

Kletzky was described by Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh as “a danger to public health and safety,” per local ABC affiliate WSYR-TV.

In fiery interviews, the outraged mayor said, “Despite years of fines and penalties, and repeatedly disregarding court orders, he’s failed to comply with required laws to maintain his properties in a habitable manner.”

Walsh, who is seeking to banish Kletzy from renting out any more properties in his city, called the landlord’s business practices “abuse.”

“While pocketing rents, he’s forced people to live in dangerous and substandard conditions while at the same time subjecting city taxpayers to incalculable costs for back taxes, overdue water bills, police and fire responses, as well as wasting other resources,” said the mayor.

The suit demands that Kletzky correct the code violations within 30 days of a ruling and pay $2.8 million in fines.

Officials are also asking for Kletzky to sell his properties in Syracuse within 90 days to buyers that they approve of and for the landlord to be barred from owning or managing residential or mixed-use property in the city.

Kletzy has reportedly been taken to court by city officials over 12 times since 2008.

According to the lawsuit, he owes over $340,000 in property taxes and water bills.

When asked about his reasoning behind throwing the landlord out of town, Walsh cited a horrific track record.

“This man has left a trail of destruction and despair everywhere he’s gone in the city of Syracuse, and he’s done it at a scale unlike anyone that we’ve seen in recent history,’’ Walsh said.

Two of the three properties deemed unsuitable for occupancy remain vacant after the city obtained court orders allowing emergency demolitions.

The third property is waiting for the court to approve its demolishment.

‘WRINGS OUT WHATEVER RENT HE CAN’

The court orders state that Kletzky must pay for the demolitions, but according to Corporation Counsel Susan Katzoff, he has yet to do so.

The city is not allowed to seize Kletzky’s personal assets to cover the costs because all but one of his properties are under single-purpose limited liability companies.

Katzoff told Syracuse.com, “He puts no money into them. He wrings out whatever rent he can…and then walks away and leaves the city holding the bag to deal with demolition costs.”

“So we can roll those onto taxes, but he doesn’t pay his taxes,’’ she added.

SYRACUSE’S CRACKDOWN ON LANDLORDS

Syracuse isn’t afraid to crack down on bad landlords.

Former Syracuse landlord John Kiggins was barred from owning or managing residential properties in the whole of New York state per a 2022 court settlement.

In 2023, another Syracuse landlord, Troy Green, was prohibited from owning or managing affordable housing in the Empire State.