One of Baltimore’s biggest landlords made a foray into Cleveland. It’s not going well.

As more than 100 homes deteriorate and go vacant in Cleveland, officials in that city have a Baltimore landlord in their crosshairs.

Riparian Capital Partners and its associated management company, based in Mount Vernon, own portfolios of homes across the country. It’s one of Baltimore’s biggest landlords.

Last year, the firm bought 172 homes in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, almost all of which are in Cleveland. But about 80% of them are visibly vacant, and many of the homes that are occupied are in disrepair, housing advocates in Cleveland say.

On Wednesday, members of Progressive Maryland, acting on behalf of the Cleveland-based Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council and ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, headed to Riparian to confront the company owners.

No one answered the door. The advocates instead dropped off a report produced by ACORN and the Cleveland vacant property council.

According to the news site Signal Cleveland, the city has issued 101 violation notices and 191 civil tickets against Riparian-owned properties and has repeatedly filed cases against the landlord in Cleveland’s housing court.

“If you think you can come in and buy properties and do nothing with them, think again,” Sally Martin O’Toole, Cleveland’s top housing official, told News 5 Cleveland.

Public records show that Riparian bought the Cuyahoga County portfolio of homes for about $9 million, or roughly $50,000 per home.

Shortly after acquiring those properties, Riparian used that portfolio and one in Michigan to take out a loan for $35 million, according to property records from Cuyahoga County.

Riparian CEO Kristoffer Garin said in an interview Wednesday that part of the loan was supposed to pay for improvements to the homes, but Riparian realized their condition was much worse than the seller had represented.

Garin said Riparian is working with a potential buyer for the Cleveland portfolio and will likely take a loss on the investment.

“This is a large fraud that we were the victim of,” Garin said.

Riparian began building the Baltimore portfolio around 2021, public records show, and the company currently owns or controls 683 homes in Baltimore through various limited liability companies.

Twenty of Riparian’s properties in Baltimore, or less than 3% of its portfolio here, have vacant building notices, an official designation from the city indicating that a property is uninhabitable.

On its website, Riparian describes itself as a group of “long-term investors” who are “committed to making positive, sustainable contributions to the communities we serve.”

“We focus on well-maintained homes located in stable, affordable communities across the cities where we operate,” the company says on its website, “and we’re committed to providing the best possible experience for our residents.”