Thursday, October 18, 2012

Common-Sense Tips On Addressing Negligent Property Owners

Over the past few months, several Dorchester Times readers have expressed their opinion regarding the village's crackdown on blighted properties. 
 
Personally, we at the Times think the village action was long overdue.  While every property owner has certain rights, he/she doesn't have the right to drag down your home's value or create a health hazzard for your family.  With all the properties on the market today, why would someone want to deal with messy neighbors when they could get a house in a neighborhood without the eyesores? That is a question that small communities like ours must ask.
 
Recently, eHow -- the online self-help site -- published a list of ways to get negligent property owners to own up to their responsibilities, without resorting to legal action or waiting for your city officials to impose.  Their suggestions:
 
1.) Start with a direct approach. If the owner is living on the property, you can approach the owner and voice your concerns in a calm manner. If the owner does not live on the property, try your best to make contact with the person over the phone about the issue.
 
2.) Ensure that the person really is the property owner. If the person on the property is actually just a tenant, you have another step before going to authorities. Find out who is renting out the property and contact that person. You can do this through your county's property tax assessor's office. Once you have this information, send a letter to the landlord, including pictures of the negligence for added effect.
 
3.) Complain to the lender of the property if it is in a foreclosed state. Do not settle for a customer service representative on this one. Make sure you speak with management, and go all the way up to the chief executive officer if that is what it takes. If this isn't giving you fast enough results, go to your state's governmental website and find the state mortgage regulator. Contact the regulator.
 
4.) Contact your local government officials. Find the number for your local public health department and call the office to explain what is going on. Make sure to take note of all sanitation and safety issues involving the property.
 
5.)  If you must contact a lawyer, a real estate attorney would be best for this. You may be able to sue the owner of the property. Remember that these cases can drag on and be expensive, so this step should only be used as a last resort.
 
See the full eHow article here.

20 comments:

  1. Once again your blog is at it again

    Posting pictures of individual residences

    I would have my lawyer all over you so fast

    Oops, I forgot yor blog people consist of a bunch of spineless individuals who do nothing more than stir up trouble in this town

    Get a job, get a life and leave people alone

    Bet you don't have the guts to print this,so others can share the thoughts

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  2. I'm not going to defend the blog people, I'm sure they're big girls and boys who can defend themselves, but I can obviously see that the pictures were taken from the streets, which is public property, if I can see a blighted home from the street it becomes everyone's business.

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  3. The town is a mess and it needs to be cleaned up. What wrong with you. From the first post it seems like they have something to hide. Maybe if we post all the pictures taken maybe something will get done around this town.

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  4. I agree -- the only problem I have is that the Times didnt post all the nasty properties that look like crap.

    I gotta laugh at that comment about lawsuits from the first comment. Sue for what? Taking pictures from the street?? My advice to that person: don't go to law school. you'll never cut it.

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  5. I think it is great, what the blog has done, face it if your property is a mess, then have the mess pick up. Be a proud person of what you have, and make it look nice for all to see. If the outside looks that bad, I would hate to see what the inside looks like. The person at the top, probably wont complain, unless its theres. Theres alot of nice houses in town, that are kept up, thanks to the times for making it know to other people who read this. I for one, dont like driving around town, looking at things like this, its alittle embarassing.

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  6. this is steve bledso I would like to know why I was the target of the picture on this joke of a blog. I have been working on cleaning it up if I do not move as fast as you like come to my door an talk to my face. The last letter I got said that I have till the 4th so stay out of my life. An make sure you are as perfect as you think you are.

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  7. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++this is steve bledso I would like to know why I was the target of the picture on this joke of a blog. I have been working on cleaning it up if I do not move as fast as you like come to my door an talk to my face. The last letter I got said that I have till the 4th so stay out of my life. An make sure you are as perfect as you think you are.

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  8. I agree with Big Shooter, Please don't open a law office. Pictures can be taken from the street and from the air without your consent. Good luck finding a lawyer to do something for you.

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  9. Sad to see any Dorchester resident trying (unsuccessfully) to defend their right to have a dump on their property.

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  10. People of Dorchester, our town has been around since 1881 and longer. We need to do some soul searching.

    Where are we going as a community? What do we want to look like when my kids graduate in decade? No one expects your home to look like the cover of Home & Garden but how is it fair to your neighbors when you let your property get away like that? They pay property taxes too! They work hard! They have families! They like a place and town they can be proud of!

    Don't be scared to stick up for yourself, fellow Dorchester residents. The silent majority has been too quiet and we've been taken advantage of. I'm glad we are having this airing of grievances.

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  11. If the two houses shown are the worst you can find, then I really don't see much of a problem. Sure, they need some work, but they are surely not keeping people away from Dorchester. ANY town right now has some empty properties and with the economy the way it is, it isn't always that easy to come up with funds to finish repairs.

    For all of those on this sight complaining about the houses that need cleaned up, why don't you be a little neighborly and ask if you can help? Dorchester appearing friendly and neighborly would actually be attractive to people who may think of moving to the community. If I was thinking of moving to Dorchester and was reading many of the stories and comments on this blog, I would turn and run away as fast as I could.

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  12. I think it is refreshing to see such dialogue. I wish our town of Crete had a site like this that encouraged a free flowing exchange. Dorchester in my opinion is a nice community, but it has slipped a notch in the past few years, like many small towns. It has great potential, so close to the Interstate and a nice new school. You guys can turn it around; you have a fan here in Crete.

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  13. The properties aren't the only thing that needs work

    The smell was so bad the last three days that when you walked outside it about made a person puke

    We have sewage to the south and a ffeedlot to the west

    I bet someone looking to buy a house in Dorchester would find ithe smell much more offensive that a messy property

    What do you think of that blogsters

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  14. Less than twenty days to election

    Who are are candidates, both for school board and town board?

    Maybe it's time for ome "new blood"to get results
    It's obvious our tow has problems and no answers

    We need someone who can save the school before it folds and someone who can recruit people and business to our town to make it grow

    Looks like those should be bigger issues tha if a person has vegetation on their property over 24 inches tall. Hell, maybe they are using it for medical reasons, or maybe making rope

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  15. And this is why I live in the country! Don't have to worry about messy neighbors.

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  16. About the lawyer thingie-you can publish pictures taken from the street all day long. But statements that are published, such as "messy neighbors" and "health hazard" could be a problem.

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  17. I am so tired of hearing all these poop-house lawyers threatening or implying lawsuits. Who are these people? What do they teach their kids? Blame someone else first??

    Keep running pictures, blogsters. Maybe it is possible to guilt them into cleaning up their dumps. Let the poop-house lawyers threaten lawsuits all day. If stuff is getting done and improvements are being made and quality of life is improving, it's worth hearing them squeal like stuck pigs!!!

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  18. Glad you took down the pichers

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  19. The people of Dorchester are fighting amongst themselves as to whether some of the worst kept yards in Southeast Nebraska should be cleaned up. Folks, ATTITUDE is why this town is going downhill. Leaders focused on cleaning it up are threatened with lawsuits. Drive the streets of any other town in the area and you will see why our main street and our school have suffered and will continue to go downhill.

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