Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:38     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People like you should mind their own business, or you may stumble on a wrong person to bother one day. Complainers get found out and if the person is less tolerant, they can pursue you and make your life a living hell. Think anything from petty passive aggressive annoyances, to harassment law suits, to mafia style bat to your knees kind of thing or damage to your property. Once the war happens, it will be much less pleasant to live in your house and having an eyesore on the street will be the least of your worries.



I'm not the OP, but I would much rather have her as my neighbor than you. You sound scary.


+1 I love it when people say this. "Oh, you should just live with an ugly, crumbling house because your neighbor will stalk you and make your life hell." This is why most cities/municipalities have ways for residents to anonymously report these issues. I live in DC, know where the list of vacant homes can be located on DC.GOV, and have reported at least three vacant homes in my community that weren't on it. If you are going to essentially abandon a home, you better believe I am going to make sure you pay taxes out the nose given that you should just sell the damn place anyway and let it be put to some proper use as opposed to being a haven for vermin and God only knows what.


Good luck telling people what to do with their property, vacant homes are not illegal and living in a home part time is also not illegal. And unless you have HOA, nobody can tell you what to do with the facade of your home or your landscaping.


Hey you libertarian blowhard - I live in DC. I don't tell them anything - BECAUSE IN A VANCANT HOME THERE IS NO ONE TO TELL. The city investigates notices of vacant property and if it is determined that it is not occupied and has not been occupied for a set period then the owner gets hit with a hefty tax bill. It's one thing DC does right - if you essentially abandon your home and refuse to maintain it, you will pay out the nose in taxes (10% a year) until you wise up and sell. And if you refuse to pay the taxes, the city will put a lien on your property and take their cut when you do get forced to sell. Boo effing hoo if you don't like it. Don't buy a damned property if you are going to treat it like shit, disrespecting your neighbors and the whole fucking city.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:33     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People like you should mind their own business, or you may stumble on a wrong person to bother one day. Complainers get found out and if the person is less tolerant, they can pursue you and make your life a living hell. Think anything from petty passive aggressive annoyances, to harassment law suits, to mafia style bat to your knees kind of thing or damage to your property. Once the war happens, it will be much less pleasant to live in your house and having an eyesore on the street will be the least of your worries.



I'm not the OP, but I would much rather have her as my neighbor than you. You sound scary.


+1 I love it when people say this. "Oh, you should just live with an ugly, crumbling house because your neighbor will stalk you and make your life hell." This is why most cities/municipalities have ways for residents to anonymously report these issues. I live in DC, know where the list of vacant homes can be located on DC.GOV, and have reported at least three vacant homes in my community that weren't on it. If you are going to essentially abandon a home, you better believe I am going to make sure you pay taxes out the nose given that you should just sell the damn place anyway and let it be put to some proper use as opposed to being a haven for vermin and God only knows what.


Good luck telling people what to do with their property, vacant homes are not illegal and living in a home part time is also not illegal. And unless you have HOA, nobody can tell you what to do with the facade of your home or your landscaping.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:32     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:You could offer to buy the house.


Why on earth would she want to do that?
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:32     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
I live in DC, know where the list of vacant homes can be located on DC.GOV, and have reported at least three vacant homes in my community that weren't on it.


Yes, but this is unique to DC, Because DC has a separate, much higher property tax for vacant homes. OP is not in DC.


I use it as an example. I'm sure MoCo has recourse options as well. Just saying that she has a point and she is justified in feeling that people have no right (or should NOT have a right) to abandon or refuse to properly maintain a home.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:30     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
You could offer to buy the house.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:11     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
I live in DC, know where the list of vacant homes can be located on DC.GOV, and have reported at least three vacant homes in my community that weren't on it.


Yes, but this is unique to DC, Because DC has a separate, much higher property tax for vacant homes. OP is not in DC.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:03     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People like you should mind their own business, or you may stumble on a wrong person to bother one day. Complainers get found out and if the person is less tolerant, they can pursue you and make your life a living hell. Think anything from petty passive aggressive annoyances, to harassment law suits, to mafia style bat to your knees kind of thing or damage to your property. Once the war happens, it will be much less pleasant to live in your house and having an eyesore on the street will be the least of your worries.



Despite the PP's hysteria, the fact is that a vacant/abandoned house is a blight on the community and actions can be taken because vacant houses lower property values. There are several legal, proper things to do. First, don't give in to outdated stereotypes. Second, you can check to see if the property taxes are paid, then check to see if liens have been or should be put on the property for failure to pay taxes or maintain the house and grounds. The neighbors can have the local housing authority seek out the owners to maintain the property. If they are unavailable, the authority can eventually make a ruling on the property as abandoned and put it up for sale by the state.

In all of these cases, any aggression by owners or squatters can of course be handled by the police. Yes, owners have rights but they also have responsibilities to the state and the community. When the owners neglect those responsibilities, they can in some cases lose their property rights.

If in doubt, check with the county.


+1 It's called social obligations. People should keep them and if you don't, YOU are the douche, not the one who is rightly complaining.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 17:01     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People like you should mind their own business, or you may stumble on a wrong person to bother one day. Complainers get found out and if the person is less tolerant, they can pursue you and make your life a living hell. Think anything from petty passive aggressive annoyances, to harassment law suits, to mafia style bat to your knees kind of thing or damage to your property. Once the war happens, it will be much less pleasant to live in your house and having an eyesore on the street will be the least of your worries.



I'm not the OP, but I would much rather have her as my neighbor than you. You sound scary.


+1 I love it when people say this. "Oh, you should just live with an ugly, crumbling house because your neighbor will stalk you and make your life hell." This is why most cities/municipalities have ways for residents to anonymously report these issues. I live in DC, know where the list of vacant homes can be located on DC.GOV, and have reported at least three vacant homes in my community that weren't on it. If you are going to essentially abandon a home, you better believe I am going to make sure you pay taxes out the nose given that you should just sell the damn place anyway and let it be put to some proper use as opposed to being a haven for vermin and God only knows what.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 16:30     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:I live on a street in Montgomery County where there is a house that has never been lived in (or fully finished on the inside) and is used basically as a massive storage shed by the off-site owner. There is never any junk in the yard but it is not landscaped and mostly overgrown. The lawn is cut regularly so that's a plus but that about it. I'm wondering if neighbors have any recourse. It's a massive eyesore. Does anyone have any experience with a similar situation?


I'm living next door to a person who does not care about the outside of there home... It's an eye soar and the town has done nothing. The next house I own ... Will have Hoa... I feel your pain. It's crazy that someone would not care about there home to maintain the outside...
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 16:04     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
Was thinking the same. You can check the address for any violations here and file a complaint as well.


http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/DHCA/pdm_online/pdmfull.asp
Realtor4you
Post 08/08/2013 14:55     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
You can file a complaint through MoCo 311 but it sounds as if there is little that can be done. If they don't mow the grass, the County can fine them but I don't think they get into bush trimming. Sorry.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 12:05     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People like you should mind their own business, or you may stumble on a wrong person to bother one day. Complainers get found out and if the person is less tolerant, they can pursue you and make your life a living hell. Think anything from petty passive aggressive annoyances, to harassment law suits, to mafia style bat to your knees kind of thing or damage to your property. Once the war happens, it will be much less pleasant to live in your house and having an eyesore on the street will be the least of your worries.



I'm not the OP, but I would much rather have her as my neighbor than you. You sound scary.


She's not scary, she's a blowhard. I recognize the tortured writing style from other posts - she's always full of dire warning of retribution visited on neighbors. Whaddaya wanna bet she's some timid creature who talks big on the internet because she's scared of her own shadow in real life?

Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 11:57     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
There is a house like this on the street where my parents live. The owner bought it in 1960 for $10k and it is now worth about $600k even in its current condition but of course he doesn't want to pay income taxes on the sale of the property. So basically we are just waiting for him to die so his estate will sell it to someone who will renovate and occupy. But otherwise there isn't really anything the neighbors can do. bummer I know.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 11:56     Subject: Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:is it an unfinished mcmansion


Is the fact that it is unfinished, presents some health hazards? Like toxic materials laying around for months and years, or dug out holes, kids can fall into?


Also, if it's unfinished and/or still under construction, there should be fencing around the property and grounds that are unsecured.


I don't know about that. We had 3 new homes go up on our street and there was no fencing or any security barriers whatsoever, they were all done by large scale builders too, fast and sold fast. I would think if this was legally required, the builders of these homes would have done this.
Anonymous
Post 08/08/2013 11:54     Subject: Re:Rundown house in the neighborhood
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People like you should mind their own business, or you may stumble on a wrong person to bother one day. Complainers get found out and if the person is less tolerant, they can pursue you and make your life a living hell. Think anything from petty passive aggressive annoyances, to harassment law suits, to mafia style bat to your knees kind of thing or damage to your property. Once the war happens, it will be much less pleasant to live in your house and having an eyesore on the street will be the least of your worries.



Despite the PP's hysteria, the fact is that a vacant/abandoned house is a blight on the community and actions can be taken because vacant houses lower property values. There are several legal, proper things to do. First, don't give in to outdated stereotypes. Second, you can check to see if the property taxes are paid, then check to see if liens have been or should be put on the property for failure to pay taxes or maintain the house and grounds. The neighbors can have the local housing authority seek out the owners to maintain the property. If they are unavailable, the authority can eventually make a ruling on the property as abandoned and put it up for sale by the state.

In all of these cases, any aggression by owners or squatters can of course be handled by the police. Yes, owners have rights but they also have responsibilities to the state and the community. When the owners neglect those responsibilities, they can in some cases lose their property rights.

If in doubt, check with the county.


And if the taxes are paid and all permits are in order, what are you going to do? OP is saying this is an unfinished Mcmansion, clearly, people may not have issues not affording taxes on it, the only thing she can do is ding them on permits and send an inspector, but if everything is in order, she can do nothing. While neighbors are morally obligated to upkeep their properties, they are not legally obligated to do things you think they should do to boost your property values. Not much you can do at all, when there is no HOA. That's what you need to know before you buy a house in an area of mixed housing and new construction projects, don't put the pressure of raising your property values on other people, this was your decision to buy.