Blight next door

As abandoned foreclosed houses breed frustration, towns are looking for recourse

A two-family house on Lafayette Street in Randolph, vacant for several years and surrounded by waist-high grass, is "nothing but a firetrap," a neighbor says. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

The problem of abandoned, foreclosed houses is giving municipalities a big headache.

As a wave of foreclosures sweeps the country, some residents and officials are taking a harder look at properties that have been forsaken by their owners and left to deteriorate.

Neighbors fear blight will spread if the houses are allowed to decay, while town officials worry about vandalism or the spread of diseases such as West Nile virus from mosquitoes breeding in half-empty pools.

Randolph officials have formed a task force and are working on a bylaw that would require owners of abandoned properties to register with the town and pay fees for maintenance.

Halifax has passed an ordinance prohibiting standing water, as in abandoned pools, while Abington officials have raised concerns about the same issue. Brockton officials have scrambled to help sell foreclosed properties so they don't turn into eyesores, and Weymouth officials have started foreclosure assistance outreach and educational programs.

One abandoned house, at 111 Lafayette St. in Randolph, has neighbors fuming. The two-family house on a large corner lot has been abandoned for several years and is now worn and weathered, with decayed gutters and waist-high grass growing throughout the yard.

"We're afraid it will burn to the ground," said 82-year-old Walter Seyfert, as he rode down the sidewalk in his motorized wheelchair donning a hat saluting World War II veterans. "It's nothing but a firetrap now. . . . How'd you like to sit in your living room and look at that all day?"

Dealing with abandoned houses presents complicated challenges. Owners of the properties, often out-of-state investors who foreclosed, ignore letters from health officials and others complaining about property upkeep.

Confused chains of ownership mean it can take a long time for officials to reach the right person. Sometimes the owners are investment companies whose finances are nearly as shaky as that of the people who lost the house, making pleas for costly upkeep problematic.

In Brockton, officials are using a public and private partnership to sell foreclosed homes as quickly as possible.

"Buy Brockton," which includes the city and local banks, has a loan pool of $35 million to lend to buyers of foreclosed single-family homes.

"One big concern is what happens in neighborhoods where these foreclosures are happening," said Mayor James E. Harrington. If houses are not sold quickly, thieves can break in to steal copper pipes and wiring, which makes it that much harder to sell the home, continuing the downward spiral, he said.

Abandoned properties also take a subtle financial toll on other homeowners. While property taxes are paid by the banks, no water and sewer revenue is being paid to the city, which puts pressure on the city to raise rates.

It's difficult to measure the exact scope of the problem. While there are hundreds of foreclosures across the region, some homes are resold quickly and never deteriorate; others sit for years and turn into decrepit messes.

Randolph has 10 to 20 such properties, said John P. McVeigh, director of public health.

"Our plan is to deal with the worst of the worst," said McVeigh, who is also chairman of the Abandoned Property Task Force, which includes representatives from the Board of Health, Fire Department, Police Department, Building Department, the treasurer/collector's office, selectmen, and a clergyman, to provide counseling. The Post Office also participates, with mail carriers reporting abandoned homes.

At a recent meeting at Town Hall, members discussed boarding up windows in abandoned houses and cutting the grass. They also wondered where financing might come from and whether they can go on private property. McVeigh said he would like to see a county housing court established, which would have more expertise in dealing with these issues, but that would be up to the Legislature.

Meanwhile, town officials are discussing a bylaw to require the owners of abandoned buildings to register with the town and the payment of an annual fee.

The house on Lafayette Street illustrates the mulititude of problems facing communities. The two-story shingled house sits on just under a half-acre on a corner lot, and has been vacant since at least 2005, when the Board of Health mailed a letter of complaint to the then-owners about trash and the uncut lawn and ordered the owners to a hearing.

Last month, the board sent a letter of complaint to Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., in Florida, which it believed owned the house.

However, illustrating the rampant confusion surrounding many foreclosures, a bank spokesman said the bank was not the owner, only the trustee. The town should have contacted the loan servicer, a company called Ocwen, wrote spokesman Ted Meyer in an e-mail. That company is responsible for property taxes and paying property upkeep charges, he said. A representative of Ocwen did not return a call.

That lack of accountability is frustrating for neighbors, who bear the burden of the property's neglect.

"I'm tired of looking at it," said Yvette Cuthbert, who for nine years has lived across the street in her neat Cape.

Would-be buyers have knocked on her door, trying to find out who owns it, but she couldn't help them.

"It takes the value of our house down. I would love to see that rented or someone buy it and maintain it."

Matt Carroll can be reached at mcarroll@globe.com.