Community Chat

[Black Cat Back]

I live in a nice townhome complex.    The townhome 2 doors down from me was recently sold when the long time owner moved to another state. The new owners hired a lot of workers who tore up the place for weeks. There was a dumpster in the driveway that they filled up every week.   

Two weeks ago, there was no activity at the house anymore.   The dumpster was left in the driveway full with junk.   Another neighbor called and had it removed.  There was no sign of the new owners, two younger women.

Since the dumpster was removed no one has returned to the home.   Out on my walk one day, I noticed that there is no front door on the home!   Inside, it's all torn up, as is the front porch area.  There is a "security" gate that is shut where the door would be, but it's wide open to bugs, rodents, cats, anything!    From what you can see from the front, the house is all torn up and definitely not finished.

I called the City and they are coming out today to take a look.   I'm just a renter, but I tend to be more vigilant in my neighborhood than the homeowners or the HOA.    I'm wondering if the new owners couldn't pay their bills and the workers quit.   Who knows.  But, there is no sign of these new owners securing their property.  One would think they would put a tarp of some kind over the door area to keep the elements out.  We get dust storms in the summer, and all that dust and dirt is going to be all over that house, not to mention whatever else gets inside.

Someone sitting on the Board at the HOA told another neighbor that they tried to e-mail the new owners but they are having issues with the emails going through.  Who knows.  If you just bought a new home, why would you leave it that way? To start all that work, it had to have closed escrow and the sale was final.

It's creepy in a way to have it over there vacant and wide open.   It was such a nice unit too as the first owner kept it so lovely.   Even if they couldn't afford the rennovations, it's still their investment property unless they ran off.

What do you all think?    I've done all I can do to report it.

[RainyDayGal]

I bet their lender would like to know about this (unless they paid cash). Someone must know how to reach the owners - through their workplace at least.  Two weeks is a long time to have no one show up there. 

[ChynnaBlue]

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@RedConvertibleGirl wrote:

I bet their lender would like to know about this (unless they paid cash). Someone must know how to reach the owners - through their workplace at least.  Two weeks is a long time to have no one show up there. 

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The lender could be the reason the property looks like this, if they were foreclosed on. Properties that are foreclosed on often get ignored like this. Lenders will take a loss and then make the new owner take care of the problems because banks aren't in the home repair business.

[Black Cat Back]

I know and the workers were there for weeks.   They had 5 or 6 trucks every day parked outside the house with workers doing some kind of construction, which looks now like tearing everything out.

[ChynnaBlue]

I think reporting to the city is a good move. They city can pursue the owner or lender if the home is a hazard.

[Black Cat Back]

The former owner did not have a foreclosure.  She got a job in the midwest, put her house up for sale, it sold within a week and she moved after about 2 weeks.

Someone outrightly bought the house and is now neglecting it.

[magicmoodz]

I don't know anything about HOAs, but why aren't they on top of this matter?

We have a house on our block that was inherited by a son after his parents died.  The problem is he lives 1,000 miles from here.  For a while he had housesitters living there who took great care of any and all maintenance--mowing, shoveling, etc.  Then they were gone and early this summer the grass was not being mowed.  I, as well as several other neighbors, reported it to the City who  will hire someone to mow and charge it back to the homeowner. Now the same couple who were housesitters, come back very regularly to maintain the lawn.  

[1jenniferjuniper]

I would let the HOA take care of it, it's really none of your business.

[brii]

Something must have happened to the new owners. 

That's very strange...

[Black Cat Back]

It is my business since I live 2 doors down and there are health codes and violations that need to be addressed.   It's a blight for the street and I pay alot of rent and don't need to live next door to a dump like that.   People have to have responsiblity for their property.