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Sound off about abandoned homes

Submitted by BeeBusinessDesk on Fri, 2007-07-13 17:32.

Business

More than 2,500 homes have been repossessed by lenders since January in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Many of those properties have been abandoned, creating problems in even the most prestigious neighborhoods.

Abandoned homes can pose fire, safety and health hazards as weeds grow, trees die and untreated pools become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and pests. Often unsecured, vacant homes also attract vandals and vagrants. After foreclosure, government officials charged cleaning up the mess find it extremely difficult to track down the legal owners and convince them to properly maintain the property.

If you have an abandoned house in your neighborhoods that posing health and safety risks, we would like to here about it. Tell us where the home is, what caused it to fall into disrepair and what efforts you’ve made, if any, to get officials to clean it up. If you frustrated, this is the time and place to let it all go and just vent. – David W. Hill, Bee business editor

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Wonderful Thoughts

Submitted by fdalla on Fri, 2007-07-13 18:11.

Sorry, I walked the entire neighborhood looking for an abandoned home with a pool. I figured if I found one.... I could make the switch without much trouble. I think in this area, if anything gets abandoned it just becomes the newest residence for whoever gets there first! I do have a question. Do the people who leave these homes go and buy a newly built house, or hasn't that been studied? I know... I'd never do worth a damn as a stand-up comic. Forgive me.

Wouldn't the person taking over the home....

Submitted by gmaudlin on Fri, 2007-07-13 22:36.

be responsible until the home is resold. The foreclosed owner has no liability beyond the foreclosure deficiency $'s. Correct?

This is after the foreclosure is cleaned out!

Correct,

Submitted by jheaton on Fri, 2007-07-13 22:59.

unless the lender is willing to do a "Short Sell." Then the lender agrees to accept an amount short of what is owed and the borrower is relieved of the difference. That is how it was explained to me.

But the writer claims the gov't. can't track down the legal

Submitted by gmaudlin on Fri, 2007-07-13 23:28.

owners to maintain the property after foreclosure. I assume he means city or county govt. people who are charged with code enforcement. That would be easy to do, so that is why I am confused. The city or county would go directly to the lender (legal owner of record) holding the property until a full sale or "short sale" is made. At that time the new owner of record would be responsible for maintaining the property.

So I guess I do not see why that would be a problem.

Anyway, it will all work out in time.

God Bless!

Sell The Home For Reasonable Prices

Submitted by shadehaize on Sat, 2007-07-14 09:56.

These lenders need to step up to the plate and take a loss on these homes and help correct things. Your average single family home should have a starting price in the low to mid 100k range and no more than that. If they would do that than a lot of of people who make their living here in the valley would buy the homes and they wouldn't have this problem in which they helped start in the first place! :-)

vacancy and lack of police protection

Submitted by reba_az on Thu, 2007-08-23 06:52.

The ones that are abandoned are bad enough but there are many that are vacant with for sale signs on them as well. In July the Bee featured my street (Scott Ave) in an article about the problems of abandoned homes. Last night yet another home on Scott was broken into...or had been. Apparently the fire alarm was set off and the fire dept showed up. Since that wonderful front page article was printed I have not seen ONE cop in my neighborhood. I rarely see police patrolling my neighborhood. The homeless have rifled through our vehicles, many of the empty ones have visible broken windows. Last night after the fire dept found it was broken into it took 15 minutes for a policeman to arrive. If there had been a problem those fireman would already have been dead. Once while on my lunch hour at home I called 911 about a fight and possible abduction going on in the street. They didn't show up for almost 40 min. Turned out to be a domestic prob. but again...had it been a stranger abducting the woman she would have been gone. All I keep seeing is articles about how shorthanded the police are. Is anything being done about it? I'm sick at the lack of police protection in this city.

$100,000 lein on all homes in foreclosure

Submitted by nvrpc on Sun, 2007-09-16 12:03.

I hear the Manteca, Modesto and Ripon are going to impose a $100K lien on all homes that are in foreclosure and that any up-keep that's needed during the homes vacancy will be billed directly to the owner of the home. Is this true and when will it go into affect. Having seen this law in conjunction with the article in the Modesto bee Work and Money entitled "If you lose your home tax hit may add to agony", I'd say that these people are not only going to lose their down payment but will be taxes on the difference between what they owe and what the home sold for, plus an additional $100K for up-keep while they were geting the shaft. Now tell me that this is all good. I wonder how many people know about this?

Hi nvrpc.....

Submitted by gmaudlin on Sun, 2007-09-16 14:04.

I have not heard anything like that?

See what comes up I guess?

But whatever happens with increased fees for clean-up, general maintenance for the over-all well being and safety of the particular neighborhood, etc., etc., I believe would be the liability of the owner of record on the date assessed. So that very well could be and most likely would be the lender most of the time. Think?

And placing a lien on a home (we can all place a lien) and collecting on any lien amounts, are entirely two different things in a court of law.

West side between Paradise and Carpenter

Submitted by andyfern on Tue, 2009-01-20 20:53.

Your not only have forclosed homes but what about former owners stripping everything out of the house, metal fencing, plants. How about owners with 6 to 7 vehicles jammed up to the front of there homes, vehicles parked on lawns, trash piled up in the alleys, fire hazard for everyone, closing in garages for rentals, no facilities. It is all out here. Speed driving on Chicago Ave and it won't be long before someone gets killed including children and students.