L Sass
Cathlete
Last year I posted that I thought my neighbor had killed her husband. She did, and the house has been vacant since December. (She was renting it for $3,000 a month) About 2 weeks after she moved out the pipes burst and flooded the house (3 floors). The water ran for 2 days and now the lower 2 floors are torn back to the studs with a lot of mold growth. Quite a nefarious smell as well) The owner then began battling with his insurance co which refused coverage because the house was vacant at the time of the flood.
The local electric co pulled the meter because of the fire hazard, and the owner has not had the electric hooked up again. The home is on water well and septic so no electricity means no water.
The owner has allowed his teenage kids and their friends to have sleepover parties there several times(he sometimes joins them, but that's a whole different issue }(.) Since there is no electricity to run air cond and it's been very hot, many of the windows have been left open. There is now human fecal matter in a number of the toilets and sinks (no water remember), a few dead birds that appear to have flown in through the open windows, food remnants all over. There are no chimney caps so both fire place chimneys are bat infested (which I find least problematic) This is clearly not a good house to be in.
I cut the grass for the owner (over 1 and a half acres in addition to my own) who is generally a very pleasant person (actually I think he's quite a con man and ususally con men have to be pleasant and amiable to be good at the con). I have contacted the local health dept and they cannot help address any of the conditions I've detailed. My local government has no building or housing code to address the issues (and structurally the house is fine). At the time of the flood I told the owner to figure out his finances with any ins coverage and if he wanted to I would make him an offer on the land, demolish the house (this is a home valued at $450,000 when habitable), and merge the property up with mine. He's done nothing. I've asked him to address the sanitation issues existing inside, but he says the clean up crews will do that when the ins co gives the authorization - doubt that will ever happen). He is delinquent in his property taxes, so eventually the county will probably file a tax foreclosure action - but that could take years.
Short of me filing a nuisance complaint against him, can you think of anything else I can do? Sorry so long.
Lorrie
Pain is temporary - quitting lasts forever
Candace Grasso, CC-V-6
The local electric co pulled the meter because of the fire hazard, and the owner has not had the electric hooked up again. The home is on water well and septic so no electricity means no water.
The owner has allowed his teenage kids and their friends to have sleepover parties there several times(he sometimes joins them, but that's a whole different issue }(.) Since there is no electricity to run air cond and it's been very hot, many of the windows have been left open. There is now human fecal matter in a number of the toilets and sinks (no water remember), a few dead birds that appear to have flown in through the open windows, food remnants all over. There are no chimney caps so both fire place chimneys are bat infested (which I find least problematic) This is clearly not a good house to be in.
I cut the grass for the owner (over 1 and a half acres in addition to my own) who is generally a very pleasant person (actually I think he's quite a con man and ususally con men have to be pleasant and amiable to be good at the con). I have contacted the local health dept and they cannot help address any of the conditions I've detailed. My local government has no building or housing code to address the issues (and structurally the house is fine). At the time of the flood I told the owner to figure out his finances with any ins coverage and if he wanted to I would make him an offer on the land, demolish the house (this is a home valued at $450,000 when habitable), and merge the property up with mine. He's done nothing. I've asked him to address the sanitation issues existing inside, but he says the clean up crews will do that when the ins co gives the authorization - doubt that will ever happen). He is delinquent in his property taxes, so eventually the county will probably file a tax foreclosure action - but that could take years.
Short of me filing a nuisance complaint against him, can you think of anything else I can do? Sorry so long.
Lorrie
Pain is temporary - quitting lasts forever
Candace Grasso, CC-V-6
