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I don't need to be convincing on this. If you have a non-rational bias, my attempt to shift it will go nowhere.
In real rural areas - this thread has somehow managed to include frikkin Detroit in that category - fire is often not an issue. Maybe in the PNW, but not where I live. A few ears of corn might pop, some privet or summac scorched, but usually the end is the building simply falling down. Until then, some are homes to Carolina wrens, bats, turkey vultures, groundhogs, and other critters.
Trespass is not only illegal in Alabama, a neighbor kid who was "exploring" a deserted home got arrested and diverted into a probation and program to get him back more on the straight and narrow. He had other issues and it was a good leverage. In rural areas where everybody knows everybody, different rules apply
I'm pretty sure Detroit just got included because of all the abandoned buildings, not because it's rural.
Why do small towns allow dilapidated structures to remain standing? At least 10% of the houses in my small town are totally beyond repair, and in many cases, have been so for decades. This holds true for a lot of small towns I've visited.
If you boarded up the house to prevent unauthorized entry, disconnected the cables to the electric utility, and capped the pipes to water and sewer, then the only reason they can force you to demolish the house is if the structure is in danger of collapsing and the you don't want to repair the structure. You have the option of doing one or the other in the code violation notice.
If the property is an area with very low traffic, the code violations may go unreported until one of the neighbors reports you or they have work done, such as digging a well, that requires an inspection and the condition of your house is noticed.
It's not cheap to demolish a house. It cost me $ 11,000 to do the work myself and have contractors sever the connections to the utilities and cap the well. If I hired a general contractor, they were going to charge $ 29,000.
If you boarded up the house to prevent unauthorized entry, disconnected the cables to the electric utility, and capped the pipes to water and sewer, then the only reason they can force you to demolish the house is if the structure is in danger of collapsing and the you don't want to repair the structure. You have the option of doing one or the other in the code violation notice.
Depends on where you are. Some jurisdictions will declare a house vacant and abandoned if it's empty longer than a specific period of time no matter whether it's been buttoned up or not.
It's a crime to enter even an abandoned house without permission to be there.
That doesn’t stop people. My mother had a house that was for sale for 5 years before she went into care, then it was in her estate for 11 years till it sold. We made the decision to take down the house because we could get sued if Little Johnny broke in and got himself killed. And kids were breaking in.
That's not very convincing to someone on the other side. I don't care about the aesthetics, I care about fires not starting and people not getting injured/dying.
In my rural area it is the occupied houses that burn down. Sometimes the town will do a prescribed burn of an old abandoned house for the volunteer fire department practice.
Do people often get injured and die in abandon houses in your area?
The neighbors will be concerned about crime that follows petty vandalism and vagrants. Trespassers repeatedly removed the boards to gain entry and accelerated the deterioration in the ceiling. Landscaping contractors were dumping yard waste. In addition, there was an illegal immigrant that holed up in the trailer next to the house until I managed to have him removed. If you don't take care of it, you will have to answer to the police or another government agency if they are called next. A citation may require a court date.
I guess the same reason big cities like Detroit do. This is not only a small town problem regardless of your bias.
So sad to see (and remember from my visit to Detroit several years ago). All of these houses were substantial, attractive, middle-class housing originally, and no doubt contained lots of happy family experiences and memories.
In situations where just one house in an otherwise good neighborhood is in sad shape and uninhabited, it may be that it belongs to an older person or invalid who doesn't live there anymore but who is unable to care for it properly, or who may not even perceive its dilapidated state accurately, and whose extended family is unable to deal with the issue (due to legal and distance concerns).
I have just such situation in my own family, where the large 120 year old home of one of my mother's late siblings is badly deteriorating and the last remaining child of that sibling is the legal owner but no longer is able to live there. Other relatives have tried to tactfully offer assistance and some have even gone into the yard unannounced to pull weeds, trim hedges, etc. , while others have attempted to barricade doors and windows against burglars (after the fact, sadly).
It's a sad situation, and my cousin's caregiver doesn't recognize the extent of the problem either, since she sees it regularly and the deterioration is gradual. Not only new water, electric, and HVAC systems are needed, but there are structural issues as well. It was a lovely home which holds many family memories for my family, and it's a source of frustration for those of us who see the problems but whose hands are tied to do anything significant to change things (I am a weed-puller, nothing more).
It's unclear who will inherit the property once my cousin is gone - not me, thankfully - but all twelve or so grandchildren seem to be in my cousin's parent's will, which was very poorly written and which is going to lead to additional problems in the future, as I am sure all of those twelve adult grandchildren will not agree about the fate of the house or even its ownership. And that doesn't take into account the great grandchildren, of whom my cousin has two, now still very young. It's unclear whether his will, which I have not seen, will take precedence of his parent's will in regard to the house's ownership after he is gone.
What a mess!
Meanwhile, neighbors who remember my aunt and uncle and their children's time there have graciously held off calling the city's building inspectors - but then someone new moved in nearby and did just that. The neighborhood is historic and very much in demand, and the once gracious house is now an eyesore.
My guess is that each similarly dilapidated house could tell a similar story.
Where I used to live, there have been two abandoned houses, both owned by the same person. I actually thought that a hermit lived in one house for years because the neighbor mowed the lawn. However, it turned out that a granddaughter had inherited the house and just left it as-is until it developed a roof leak and the living room fell into the basement. She finally sold it for the price of the lot to a developer. The same lady, who lived across the street from me in a crumbling wreck of a house that she inherited from her mother, also abandoned that house to move into a trailer park with some guy. The house and yard are a haven for critters and vermin. It's a shame, because it sits on 1.5 acres in the small community and she could sell it for a very good price (she is developmentally challenged and doesn't work). However, since it was her Mom's house, she will never sell it due to sentiment and it will probably crumble in place or be burned by the county.
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- fire is often not an issue. Maybe in the PNW, but not where I live. A few ears of corn might pop, some privet or summac scorched, but usually the end is the building simply falling down. Until then, some are homes to Carolina wrens, bats, turkey vultures, groundhogs, and other critters.
Solly says — Be nice!
