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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
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KrK

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Code enforcement demolishes House next door

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This is something that (hopefully) none of you will ever face....

I awoke to the sights and sounds of this going on next door....

Some background: When I moved into my place in late 2007 this home next door was in good condition and was for sale.

The woman who owned it had lived there for about 20 years but had passed away, leaving her estate to her son, who was the "Gangbanger" type and in and out of trouble. He wasn't paying the mortgage or the utilities and they had been turned off, but he was still living there.... while I was moving in I caught him stealing electricity from my house, and after that he switched to stealing electricity from the house on the other side of him that was vacant and on the market.... he would turn his water meter back on himself whenever the city shut it off.

He did nothing to maintain the property and the lawn and hedges had overgrown, and he was asking full price for the home, which unsurprisingly didn't sell. It was eventually foreclosed upon and sometime later he stopped living there and disappeared, although the home still had much of the furniture, personal property and appliances in it.

The home was apparently sold by the bank to some property firm that specialized in flipping distressed houses, but this was right about the time the housing market had collapsed, and the house sat empty for months, during which time it was broken into, and then subjected to arson. Eventually they boarded it up in a futile attempt to secure it and it's sat ever since. It's been broken into by vandals, and the city has placed numerous abatement notices on it including coming out 2 or 3 times to clean up the property and mow the grass.

Today was it's final day, and it met it's fate at the hands of Demolition Wreckers on contract from the city.
KrK

KrK

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Here's some recent "Before" photos taken just a couple of weeks ago (around the time the city put the last abatement warning up.)

While it's good to have the eyesore removed, it's also saddening. The photos don't show it but this was a larger home, and it sat on a huge wedge shaped lot that's much bigger then mine and probably the largest in the neighborhood. Built in the late 60's, it was well built, the ceiling joists were 2x12's, for example.

I'd been inside it. The fire damage was largely superficial, limited to drywall and cabinets, and the whole house had smoke damage, but there was no structural damage, it just was a huge mess. Amazingly, nobody had stolen the copper---- the home's wiring, plumbing, and HVAC was all intact.

Such a waste, really.
iknow
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join:2012-03-25

iknow to KrK

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WOW, better keep an eye out for your own house!. it's truly amazing how your city can steal a house just because the grass isn't cut, or possibly some junk is in the yard, this type of theft started about 10 years ago i believe, and was an offshoot of confiscation of property of drug dealers. this proves the Government owns everything.

mattmag

join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois

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mattmag

said by iknow:

it's truly amazing how your city can steal a house just because the grass isn't cut, or possibly some junk is in the yard, this type of theft started about 10 years ago i believe,.

Wow, you'd better get your tinfoil hat back on, if you think this is "theft".....
iknow
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join:2012-03-25

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iknow

Premium Member

said by mattmag:

said by iknow:

it's truly amazing how your city can steal a house just because the grass isn't cut, or possibly some junk is in the yard, this type of theft started about 10 years ago i believe,.

Wow, you'd better get your tinfoil hat back on, if you think this is "theft".....

you mean they asked to destroy the property and payed the property owner a fair price for the property they destroyed?. else it's theft. government or not. as i said, this was allowed under some court ruling fairly recently, before that, they couldn't legally do it.

mityfowl
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join:2000-11-06
Dallas, TX

mityfowl to KrK

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This house would have sold for the right price.

I'm sure who ever owned it was asking way too much.

Now all they get is the right down. Perhaps that was worth more to them.

All homes sell for the right price except in compleley blighted areas such as Detroit's.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
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This was no simple grass not being cut. The house was falling into total disrepair, storm damage not cleaned up (except by the City), people dumping trash and vandalizing it and setting it on fire.

IMHO it should have been auctioned off, or at the very least at least salvaged before demolition. It's a shame to see a property that could have been saved demolished, but barring being repaired, it needed to go. In fact the amazing thing is it took so long.

It's also a classic example of what happens to "empty" homes these days, everything would be fine if the thieves and punks would leave them alone--- you could wait several years. Reality is, you can't. Empty homes sitting abandoned get stripped, vandalized, burned by the scum maggots of the world. What actually might of saved this home would be in things moved more quickly instead of so slowly---- by the time everything started moving the home had suffered a lot of damage and neglect.

Jtmo
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join:2001-05-20
Novato, CA

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Now you can take down the fence and start mowing the grass to claim it as yours 10 years from now.

Shame her son was such a bum to let it go.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
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join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

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She was a very nice woman, by all accounts. She paid the mortgage for 20 years---- it's a shame.
KrK

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Is that something they let you do in California? :/

bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
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join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA

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Sounds like good riddance. Here's to you getting someone responsible to buy the property and build a nice new house there.
iknow
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join:2012-03-25

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said by KrK:

Is that something they let you do in California? :/

it's called "adverse possession" and each state has it's own rules on that. yes, in some states, you can use the property for a specified period of time, without a complaint being filed, and make it yours. »www.expertlaw.com/librar ··· ion.html

John Galt6
Forward, March
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Happy Camp

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said by KrK:

Is that something they let you do in California? :/

It's called "adverse possession"...

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
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join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

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next time tell the contractor to spray water to contain the dust. Did they abate lead and asbestos first?
iknow
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join:2012-03-25

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actually, banks that hold mortgages have insurance on the mortgage, so it makes them more money collecting the insurance than it does collecting reduced payments from homeowners, so they usually evict the homeowners and demolish the property to avoid fines by local government for no upkeep. this was a somewhat unusual circumstance where they sold the property to a flipper, which didn't work out. still, the house could have been sold for something!. maybe the flipper had insurance too!.

bemis
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join:2008-07-18
united state

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said by iknow:

you mean they asked to destroy the property and payed the property owner a fair price for the property they destroyed?. else it's theft. government or not. as i said, this was allowed under some court ruling fairly recently, before that, they couldn't legally do it.

From the OP, it sounds like the house might be owned by the city now.

The original property owner is dead.

Her heir didn't pay for the property and lost it back to bank.

The bank sold it to a flipping company who did nothing with it, what value it might have had was reduced when it subjected to arson and vandalism.

The flipping company likely either stopped paying on it allowing it to go back to the city, or they were pleased when the city demo'd it because now it means they can simply sell it as land instead of land + headache.

KrK
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Yes, all hazards that might exist were abated. With a large track Hoe. This is Oklahoma!

The home still had household cleaners and so on in it. Honestly if I had any idea they were coming today I could of gone in and picked all that stuff up just to lower the pollution. Oh well.
KrK

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The notices I saw on the home over the years mentioned a $10,000 fine but I don't know if it was ever levied.

The City mayor in 2008 beefed up the power of code enforcement in cases like this because before that they were a lot more toothless and properties could sit for decades.

The city is trying to clean up such properties, but like everything else it has a budget. Which kind of gets me back to the whole why not auction it off cheap thing.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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Springfield, MA

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Where I live (Springfield, MA), they have so many distressed/abandoned properties/homes that the city does not have the resources to clean them all up. The ones that get torn down are the worst of the worst, in other words; ones that pose an immediate threat to public safety. There are still some homes damaged by last year's tornado along with a catholic high school that have yet to be fixed or cleaned up, mainly because of disputes between property owners and insurance companies or unethical contractors that work out of their pickup trucks running off with insurance checks only to be never heard from again. I live in the better part of town but there are still a few eyesore properties in the area. One of them burned down a few years ago and they built a brand new house with the insurance money. I do my part to keep the property looking nice despite a landlord that does nothing more than collect the rent every month.
MaynardKrebs
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said by KrK:

..... it sat on a huge wedge shaped lot that's much bigger then mine and probably the largest in the neighborhood.

This is you big opportunity to buy the vacant lot @ a firesale price and put up that big swimming pool you've always wanted.

That, or you'll soon be living next to a dumping ground for everyone's trash.
Viper677
Certified Home Inspector
join:2012-03-22
Toronto

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I dont see anything wrong done by the city here.

KrK
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Checking into the Tulsa law it's apparent the city would not have demolished the home unless they had already taken ownership of the property.

This explains the long delay. The process goes on something like this:

Property owners are absent and don't maintain property. City puts abatement notices up which aren't complied with. City levies fines and puts liens on the property (Back taxes, abatement.)

The properties sit and over time get more fines and more back taxes, they no longer will sell in any auction due to the liens.

Eventually the city takes ownership of the property, and then cleans it up (demolishes the eyesore.) This will also clear the liens and back taxes, it seems. (Not 100% sure on this but I doubt the city will fine itself.)

Under the law you cannot use adverse possession to take control of city property.

What will happen at some point down the road is the city will conduct a surplus property auction and the now empty lot will be sold.

psafux
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Anyone else pop in here expecting something about Hugh Laurie?

No, ok just me.
iknow
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join:2012-03-25

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said by KrK:

The notices I saw on the home over the years mentioned a $10,000 fine but I don't know if it was ever levied.

The City mayor in 2008 beefed up the power of code enforcement in cases like this because before that they were a lot more toothless and properties could sit for decades.

The city is trying to clean up such properties, but like everything else it has a budget. Which kind of gets me back to the whole why not auction it off cheap thing.

actually, it's court opinions spurred on by the war on drugs that allows property forfeitures that don't even have anything to do with drugs. it's the slippery slope deal, the congress starts legislation, and passes laws, and it's good for the intended purpose, but it quickly gets misused for other purposes. years ago, this was not allowed. they could fine, but not clean up a property themselves, or demolish someones property. it might possibly still be illegal, but not enforced.

KrK
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Yeah, it sounds like a great idea. There's a slight wrinkle to that idea--- there's a sidewalk between the property and mine that accesses the park behind us. So unfortunately even if I did own the lot next door it would be a separate lot, no just fencing it in as a huge yard, for example. If available cheap it would still be an attractive idea, however.... the separate lot issue could trip you up in another way, as in neighborhood covenants.

While building a workshop or a pool or etc on your large home lot isn't much a problem, having a lot without a home and trying to use it for some alternative use (think a large garage) is likely a violation of covenants concerning lot usage.

Then there's the issue of having a public right of way in the middle of your yard. Bah.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
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Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

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I say buy the lot
sell your home and build a beter home on the larger lot.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

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said by psafux:

Anyone else pop in here expecting something about Hugh Laurie?

No, ok just me.

I was actually expecting a home being demolished accidentally due to a code enforcement slip up.

KrK
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Oklahoma has always had provisions where taxes with unpaid property taxes could be auctioned off eventually.

Code enforcement was largely toothless, and could fine, but of course the owners never would pay or often never could be found, and the properties would sit, and the other owners around them would be frustrated but little could be done, and the properties would lower home values, draw crime and squatters, etc etc

The city finally beefed up the laws, and now, after a process that takes several years, can finally take over abandoned homes. I really have no issue with that, as already I see the benefits. Everyone on the street is happy to see it go, I'm just sad at the waste of resources and the demolition of what was a nice home and could have been saved if a different path was taken.

It wasn't. I don't really blame the city.

dennismurphy
Put me on hold? I'll put YOU on hold
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Parsippany, NJ

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I don't know the layout of the park etc. but I do wonder if you were to come into ownership of the land, if the city would let you trade the ROW for a new one on the 'far side' of the lot - in other words, give you back the 6' wide (or whatever) strip of land between the lots in exchange for a 6' wide strip at the edge of the empty lot, thus allowing you full usage of the lot.

Not sure what your plans are, but might be worth a discussion with the town if you're serious.

jrs8084
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join:2002-03-02
Statesville, NC

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You mentioned storm damage. Where you the one who was in the shower when a tornado came through? That storm damage?