The owner of a troubled metro apartment complex will be in court Friday facing nine allegations of building code violations. Avrim Cimmering faces the possibility of jail time and fines.

Cimmering owns the Wintergreen Apartments.

Complaints about the facility have fallen off recently but some say that doesn't mean things have improved.

Kathy Brown moved into the Wintergreen Apartments last October. She was looking for an apartment she could afford to live in but says the owner of the complex has made it uninhabitable.

She says, "If it was me, they would criminally charge me for being a slumlord. That's what this is. He doesn't like to be called that but that's what he is, a slumlord."

Cimmering has a history of not paying his bills. His latest delinquency resulted in the heat and water at some of the apartments being temporarily shut off in the middle of the winter.

Last week, the owner voluntarily demolished several fire-damaged units after the city cited him for code violations.

The city has received a dwindling number of complaints from the tenants of Wintergreen but City Housing Inspector Kevin Denker attributes that to the fact that fewer people are living there. Less than 15-percent of the complex is currently occupied.

Denker says, "I think that has a lot to do with it. It's easier to maintain 25 to 30 units than 200 units. I'm sure that's why we've seen a decrease in complaints. It's a numbers game."

While each of the nine code violations that Cimmering faces carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and six-months in jail, city officials say that since it's the first time he'll be appearing in front of a judge here he will not likely face the maximum penalty and might not be given any time in jail.