ORLEANS — David and Carolyn Delgizzi live in Weston but are known on the Outer Cape for allowing their properties to fall into disrepair while charging tenants hefty monthly rents. They’re also chronically delinquent on paying real estate taxes, creating a double headache for towns here.
It isn’t just the Outer Cape that’s affected. Orleans and Brewster both face similar challenges with the Delgizzis. In Orleans, the couple own the now-closed Lobster Pound restaurant at 157 Route 6A and rent out houses at 14 and 18 Brewster Cross Road. In Brewster, they own three houses at 141 Spring Lane, 32 Carol Ann Drive, and 180 Leland Road, which they bought in 2019 and 2020.
And in what has become an annual procedure, the state Dept. of Revenue placed a lien in January on the deeds of all Delgizzi-owned properties for the $382,034 David owes in state income and meals taxes.
In March, the Internal Revenue Service placed a lien on the properties because the Delgizzis owe $2 million in federal income taxes.
Orleans: A Hole in the Wall
The Lobster Pound closed in 2020 under the state’s Covid restrictions, and it has never reopened. What remains is a faded sign beside a deteriorating building.
Orleans Treasurer-Collector Scott Walker said he sees a few people with construction gear waiting out front for a ride to work when he passes by in the morning. “As far as we can tell, it looks like there are squatters living in that building — or maybe they’re paying rent,” he said.
“Someone came in who was interested in buying it and went out to take a look,” Walker said. “He said there was a hole in the back big enough for an owl to fly in and out. He couldn’t believe anyone was living there.”
According to the Orleans assessor’s records, the restaurant building contains no bedrooms where tenants could sleep. The building was not designed for residential use.
Until July 28, all three Delgizzi properties in Orleans had local tax liens on them. The owners hadn’t paid any real estate taxes to the town since 2021 and owed a total of $18,740. “I think the cash cow was the Lobster Pound,” said Walker, “and when it closed, they stopped paying taxes.”
An hour after the treasurer-collector spoke to this reporter, who had also emailed questions to the building commissioner and health agent, Walker called back to report that Carolyn Delgizzi had just paid almost all of her real estate tax bill via online transfers. He suddenly saw “this long stream of payments” coming across his computer screen, Walker said.
Delgizzi followed the online payments with a phone call to notify town staff that she had paid all the back taxes. She was told that a tax lien from 2021 for $3,840 remained. Delgizzi came in and paid that bill on Monday. She also paid the first installment of her 2024 tax bill.
The reasons for her sudden change of heart are not known. “The timing was certainly bizarre,” said Walker, who added that he was happy the town had received the money. “Maybe it wasn’t the IRS, but it was the press that got me paid.”
Carolyn Delgizzi did not return a call seeking comment.
The town has not inspected the two rental properties owned by the Delgizzis in Orleans.
Orleans approved a bylaw at the May town meeting requiring landlords to register both short-term and long-term rentals with the town assessor’s office annually and attest that the units have functioning smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors. Unlike Eastham’s more comprehensive rental registration and certification program overseen by the board of health, the Orleans bylaw does not require yearly water testing or a statement of the number of bedrooms and their dimensions to ensure they meet state standards.
Local health departments are in charge of enforcing the state’s sanitary code, which sets minimum standards for habitation.
“We do not track rentals in particular,” said Orleans Health Agent Alexandra Fitch. “The health dept. enforces the housing code only if we get a complaint.”
Orleans Building Commissioner Thomas Evers said he had received no complaints regarding the Delgizzi properties at 14 and 18 Brewster Cross, so he had not inspected either of them. He did not respond to questions about whether he had inspected the Lobster Pound building. When asked about reports that people were living there, Evers said, “That’s my understanding.”
Orleans Fire Chief Geof Deering said in an email that his department had responded to the restaurant building several times in the past for sprinkler issues, but those were all addressed.
“The properties have not changed ownership or the business has been closed, so we would not normally inspect them,” Deering said.
In Brewster, Abandonment
The Delgizzis purchased their three Brewster properties in 2019 and 2020 at the same time Truro officials were waging a court battle against them over the dilapidated Truro Motor Inn, where the landlords were illegally renting rooms to year-round tenants, and Eastham was completing a Land Court taking of two condominiums for nonpayment of real estate taxes. The condos were in poor condition, according to Eastham Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe, and the town is still working on getting them refurbished.
An abandoned two-story Cape-style house at 141 Spring Lane in Brewster has been the source of several complaints from residents in this otherwise well-groomed neighborhood. David Delgizzi purchased the property in 2019 for $265,000. The yard is now overgrown, and the house is deteriorating.
Brewster Building Commissioner F. Davis Walters said he investigated a written complaint a year ago from neighbors regarding “unpermitted work” taking place there. Walters went to the property and posted a stop-work order in March 2022. No permit applications have been filed since then, he said, and inspectors from the building dept. have seen no evidence of further construction.
In mid-June of this year, a neighbor filed a complaint expressing concern that the property appeared abandoned.
“The Tax Collector and I met with several neighbors regarding this property on June 23 who expressed concerns about the overgrown appearance, potential ‘abandonment’ of the property, and unpaid taxes,” Walters said in an email. “Since the building is currently tight to the weather and there is no threat to public safety, the Building Department cannot take any enforcement action at this time.” His department will continue to monitor the property, Walters said.
Brewster Treasurer-Collector Lisa Vitale said the Delgizzis owe the town a total of $29,768 in back taxes. The property at 141 Spring Lane and another one at 32 Carol Ann Drive are in tax title, with liens filed at the county registry of deeds and interest accruing at 16 percent. The taxes for the property at 180 Leland Road were not paid in 2023 and the balance owed is accruing interest at 14 percent. A tax lien will be added at the registry of deeds on the Leland Road property this fall if taxes remain unpaid.
Both Walters and Vitale said the towns prefer to collect the taxes rather than take ownership of the properties.
“Since January 2005, we have foreclosed on 17 parcels and most were vacant land,” Vitale wrote. The process of foreclosure can take as long as five years in Land Court, she said.
