What to do about abandoned house? (property tax, legal, escrow, inspector)
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We (my dh and I) have been looking into this today. House is owned by Ocwen, which is a seriously troubled financial institution. The HOA has a lien on the house for unpaid assessment; Ocwen hasn't paid in several years. As far as the overgrown yard - our ccrs do not require regular yard maintenance (this is a rural environment). We are in the county, not within a city. I don't think the county cares about us.
So your answer to mowing is, it 's not required.
So what specifically is the problem?
Obviously not an overgrown yard, which is usually a big issue when neighbors are upset about an abandoned house. Not the overgrown aspect of it otherwise you'd all be mowing by now instead of 'looking into'.
You're in the country where people generally do not have the restrictions of nearby municipalities.
You're in an HOA, where munis are glad people are taken care of by their HOA board and where there are limits to what they can do and what they want to do on private property within a HOA.
Is the house falling down? Parties inside? Vagrants taking over?
I and my neighbors got together to clean up the outside...
My contribution was mowing and another neighbor did the trimming...
We have mandatory garbage service so another neighbor picked up trash, newspapers and such.
It really transformed the place.
My suggestion would be the same...
I think this is the most practical short to medium term solution. It sucks, but it can make the house look better. Perusing the mortgage company is fine long term but won't get the house looking up to snuff.
We have an abandoned house in our neighborhood. I *believe* it is now bank owned, but I am not sure.
Anyhow, what is the best way to get the owner (bank?) to clean it up and get new owners in? Frankly, it's a decent house that is rapidly becoming a mess on the outside. Seems it could attract squatters, etc. This is an HOA neighborhood, but they are looking for a fast, easy way to deal with this problem (my dh is on the board).
I have heard of neighbors getting the cops to clear places, then sealing it THEN burning it thus destroying having squatters, but having still an eyesore in the neighborhood.
As someone mentioned earlier, the house may not even belong to Ocwen. It could still be owned by the owner with Ocwen sending foreclosure letters to the owner. I have worked a short sale between a homeowner (senior citizen who no longer lived in the house) and Ocwen. She hadn't paid her mortgage for a long time, she fell on really hard times. It took 5 months to complete the sale with Ocwen and I wasn't giving up, but I got the house sold (I also helped her to get someone to keep the yard maintained during the process) and it is was remodeled right away, eliminating the community eye sore.
I suggest getting with a real estate agent that works short sales. Many agents don't work short sales, so be sure to ask. They may be able help you take care of this situation.
I think this is the most practical short to medium term solution. It sucks, but it can make the house look better. Perusing the mortgage company is fine long term but won't get the house looking up to snuff.
You'd think. But the OP says they want a fast easy way to solve the problem, yet, on the overgrown yard, also says the CC&Rs don't require mowing. So I guess that's that. If you have a problem with an overgrown yard where the property looks worse and worse, well too bad mowing is not required because otherwise neighbors could mow. (Facetious, of course)
Regarding the mowing, which I agree can make a big difference, and add a little bush cutting and trimming low branches, I have mowed many a yard in this situation with many neighbors over the years. There were no lengthy committee discussions, just a few neighbors whenever they had the time to do whatever they were able to do.
People can be ....I guess it's called passive aggressive. I had a neighbor who complained that tree branches a few yards up from his driveway overhung and obstructed his view of the road as he pulled out of his driveway. He had been complaining for some time to other neighbors. He said he had this problem for months and the HOA's maintenance man never cut the branches. Did he tell the HOA board or whoever? No.
So I walked up the road with a good loper and a good hand saw, cut a few branches in a few minutes. Done.
At some point the abandoned house should fall under certain laws, such as public nuisance, unsafe structure, or sanitary health hazard. Check your county laws to see what qualifies.
This. IF it is bad enough, the HOA or the city/county might be able to clean it up and either eat the cost or put a lien on the house.
There have been a few abandoned houses on my street. It seems to take an average of about three years of standing empty before it's sold and someone moves in. The biggest issue for us is usually that the yards end up looking horrible and it takes at least six months before the HOA will do a force mow.
Our yards are small, and my mower is self-propelled...I can mow the front yard in about ten minutes. So if it's the house next door or the house across the street, when I'm done with my yard, I just spend another ten minutes mowing that yard. I would never do that without permission if someone still lived there, but as long as the yard is mowed and trash and newspapers are picked up, the house doesn't look vacant and is less likely to attract squatters or vandals.
We have an abandoned house in our neighborhood. I *believe* it is now bank owned, but I am not sure.
Anyhow, what is the best way to get the owner (bank?) to clean it up and get new owners in? Frankly, it's a decent house that is rapidly becoming a mess on the outside. Seems it could attract squatters, etc. This is an HOA neighborhood, but they are looking for a fast, easy way to deal with this problem (my dh is on the board).
It's up to the City to enforce property bylaws. Contact police to find out how to file a complaint that should pack the best wallop like attaching a neighborhood petition and/or photos and/or past incident reports.
I suppose the suggestion to let it moulder into ruin porn is out of the Q?
Otherwise there's not much you can do (affordably or easily), the banks have got it, you can probably complain to the City as abandoned houses harbor vermin and are dangerous.
These things tend to run their own sweet time but raising Hazard Concerns via Official Channels will hasten them.
There is a gorgeous house in a gorgeous street where I live, it actually featured in magazines back in the 30s, left to rot and ruin in the most expensive seaside burb you can imagine.
No one can sort it out because no one can find the Owner. That is to say, the Owner is deceased and no one ever sorted out the Estate. The likely inheritor is in the wind in Canada somewhere. Rich people can do this - if they have enough money to Not Worry About A Problem, they just ignore it sometimes for decades and Officialdom is hamstrung to do anything if the land rates are paid.
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