By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A landlord in the village and one of his employees say they are being held liable for fines levied on the former owner of a property the landlord bought at a county tax auction.

Robin Wolpin, who works with Tom Spinner, said Spinner bought 98 and 106 Liberty Ave., fixed them up and has tenants now living there. However, she said they received a past due bill for a code violation fine the former owner never paid.

“I really don’t see how we can be liable for that, like past gas bill or past electric bills,” Wolpin told the village board of Tuesday during public comment. “It’s a disingenuous, punitive thing to throw at Tom when he had that property since September.”

Spinner said he encountered a similar situation with the county several years ago, but they absolved him of responsibility.

“It should not be passed onto us,” Spinner said county officials told him. “We didn’t really fight it last time. They took it off.”

He said the county told him to lawyer up.

“They told me to get a lawyer, we can beat this,” he said.

Mayor Tim Currier said he would ask around on Wednesday and see if he can amicably resolve the matter.

“You won’t need a lawyer to take care of this. Let me look into it tomorrow,” Currier said to Spinner. “I don’t like the sound of it.”