what can i do about my crackhead neighbors? the police will not help me

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by lb528

But the problem with finding him to inform him of this is that the house is listed as his principle residence rather than a rental property and there is no other contact information for him. It also doesn't help that he has a really common name.

I wanted to mention though that I have found someone to help with the situation. And i want to thank the person that reccomended calling the the housing department's legal division because they put me in touch with someone that actually said they can and will help me and he has already started building a case against the owner of the house.
If I gave up and sold my house at a loss I would be giving in to those pieces of crap and I am just not willing to do that. I have a right to be safe and happy in my home...they aren't even supposed to be in that house, so they aren't going to take it away from me.

The city just announced that's it's (finally) cracking down on absentee-owners who are claiming a property as a principal residence and receiving the homestead tax credit. Assuming that the owner has lived there for a while, he's probably paying far less than he should in property taxes if he's claiming it as a residence. Maybe the threat of a fine and increased taxes will be an incentive to do something about the property, like sell it.

[Marylandsailor]

I would try another option. Go around your block and meet your neighbors to discuss the problem. I am sure there are other decent law abiding people like you who just want a quiet, safe place to live. Once you have 20 or 30 people WILLING to do something, have them all march over to the house in a group and demand to talk to the people there. Tell them they either stop what they are doing or move out. Say it forcefully and with tough love. Forget about the police and the city of Baltimore. Decent people have to take back the city one block at a time. The people have the power. Forget about the government helping you. You have to help yourself. I know it sounds like a scene in an old western movie, but I believe it will work, IF and this is a big IF, you can get enough people on your street to care. Just my 2 cents.

Brad

[carolott]

Originally Posted by lb528

the police do come pretty often, the problem is that the owner of the house is no where to be found, and the guy he rents it to that rents it out to all these scumbags apparently has people fooled into thinking he's the owner..but he's not. and no one in the house will give me his information either because they all know i would have that place condemned so fast their heads would spin if they weren't all such sketchy bastards.

Baltimore has a Nuisance Property law on the books, and I have seen it enforced a few times in my neighborhood. If you send a letter to the landlord, make sure you tell him that after so many complaints, the city has the option of taking his house away from him. Sometimes hitting people in the wallet is a great motivator.

Also, I've found that going to the 311 online website and filing complaints seems to get faster results than calling.