CLEVELAND, Ohio — No matter how much Cleveland housing officials tried, Oval Investments LLC wouldn’t budge.

The company, founded by Hawaii resident Mamoru Kobayashi, owes more than $35,000 in housing code violations, on the single-family home it owned on East 173rd Street, with fees at one point racking up at a rate of $1,000 per day. And before the property was sold in 2021, the company owed $28,000 in delinquent taxes – more than the purchase value of the house.

Kobayashi, whom cleveland.com attempted to reach for this story, never received permits to improve the property. He didn’t bother to respond to certified mail from the city or show up in court for housing violations.

Even if Cleveland housing officials wanted to go after Kobayashi, they couldn’t. Oval Investments no longer exists, and since the property was owned by a limited liability company, Kobayashi is off the hook.

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