Senator Says He Knew Very Little About Rental...

Gail Nardi, of the North Carolina Democratic Party says the amount ofmoney generated was much higher than Helms' tax forms reveal, and thatthere were other discrepancies in his written reports as well.

But after revelations that Helms had improperly listedsome of that property on financial disclosure reports filed with theSenate, the Republican faced some embarrassing questions about thestate of some of those homes.

Tax records show that the property is in some of Raleigh'spoorest neighborhoods, six of the units have no heat and seven ofthe homes are valued at less than $41,000.

Police records reportedly show a homicide occurred outside onehome, while one tenant says drug dealers regularly ply their tradein his back yard,

``They need to condemn them. They put pictures on the wall. Youmove them and there are holes,'' said Billy Wayne Wise, who livesin a duplex in downtown Raleigh owned by Dorothy Helms, in aninterview Wednesday.

Helms' financial disclosure form to the Senate shows Mrs. Helmsowns nine rental properties worth between $250,000 and $500,000.But county tax records show the Helmses own 15 rental properties inWake County with an assessed tax value of $1,071,610.

Most of them are listed under Mrs. Helms' name. Two are listedjointly. One is listed under Helms' name.

Helms downplayed both the inaccurate report and the state oftheproperties listed under his wife's name in comments to reporters onWednesday.

``It's making a mountain out of a molehill and I'm filing anamendment (to the statement) and every senator files an amendmentfrom time to time,'' Helms said.

Helms said his wife handled her own real estate dealings, anddoubted that any of the rental units were without heat.

``I don't think that's true,'' Helms said. ``I don't know. Ofcourse, I couldn't tell you where any of her property is. She saysthat every one of them has heat.''

A Helms spokesman, Jimmy Broughton, also said that informationon the tax records has not been updated and that all the rentalhomes are heated.

James Harrington, who has lived in a Helms' home in southRaleigh for almost 30 years, said that wasn't true. Space heatersand kerosene keep him warm in the winter, he said.

Harrington lives next door to a duplex also owned by Mrs.Helms.The homes, which sit near two housing projects, are simplewood-frame structures set back only a few feet from the street.Small yards are mostly mud and dirt, and the homes' bare wood isexposed in places by cracking paint.

On the other side of downtown Raleigh, another Helms' duplex isalso in need of repair. Wise said he is about to be evicted becausehe moved in under someone else's lease. He said the home had beenrun down since he moved there.

Behind the duplex, signs pinned to a tree also informedloiterers that this was private property. Wise's next-doorneighbor, Kelly Lewis, said the signs hadn't done much good.

``This is a drug area,'' Lewis said. ``I hate to say that aboutmy community, but it's true.''

Lewis said sometimes drug dealers conducted their business inhis back yard, or more precisely, the Helms' back yard.

A man was shot to death in 1993 outside a house owned by theHelmses, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported in today'seditions.

Randolph Womack was killed two days after he had slashedanotherman's throat at the same location, according to Raleigh policerecords. At the time, neighbors told the newspaper that the housewas an illegal ``shot house'' where liquor was sold by the drink.

Helms' aides said Mrs. Helms inherited her real estate holdingsfrom her father, Jacob Coble, a Raleigh businessman who died in1962. But county rental records show that only four of the 15rental properties were inherited or received from Coble.

Calls seeking further comment from Helms and his aides were notreturned.

Helms' Senate opponent, Democrat Harvey Gantt, declined tocriticize Helms, saying it was an issue best left to the SenateEthics Committee.

By SCOTT MOONEYHAM,Associated Press WriterCopyright ©1996 Associated Press. Allrights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or distributed.