Getting help cleaning up foreclosed properties
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UNION GAP, Wash. -- KIMA is taking action for you when it comes to messes in the hands of banks. You contacted us about a foreclosed home covered in weeds. It turns out these are even harder to handle than usual. Action News learned what gets in the way of these cleanups.
Neighbors on Spring Avenue in Union Gap are frustrated and worried.
"It used to be a beautiful place, just gorgeous when we first moved here 12 years ago," said “Judy”
Now, the house across the street is not only an eyesore, but a danger.
"A flick of a match could take everyone's homes and it's just not a good situation," she said.
This neighbor who only wants to be identified as Judy said she's at her wits end. The home across the street went into foreclosure a few months ago. Her neighbors moved out and the weeds moved in.
They cover most of the house from the street and the back is even worse. Judy decided to do something, so she called Union Gap. When she didn't hear back, she called the bank that now owns the property.
"I was told something would be done right away and it would be cleaned up but as you can see it still isn't," she said.
Action News asked the city why they haven’t taken action on the property.
"Well, being that it's a bank-owned property a bank repossession, these are our hardest, most difficult," said David Spurlock who manages Union Gap’s code enforcement.
Banks deal with thousands of these properties. When a complaint comes in, it goes on a long waiting list. It also forces cities to take more legal steps to get it cleaned up, all that takes time.
Union Gap said if there's no action from the banks soon, it will take the necessary steps to get rid of the mess.
It's illegal for you to take matters into your own hands and cut down a neighbor's weeds because it's private property. Your best bet is to lodge a complaint with your city and stay on top of it until it's clean.
We will do the same.
Neighbors on Spring Avenue in Union Gap are frustrated and worried.
"It used to be a beautiful place, just gorgeous when we first moved here 12 years ago," said “Judy”
Now, the house across the street is not only an eyesore, but a danger.
"A flick of a match could take everyone's homes and it's just not a good situation," she said.
This neighbor who only wants to be identified as Judy said she's at her wits end. The home across the street went into foreclosure a few months ago. Her neighbors moved out and the weeds moved in.
They cover most of the house from the street and the back is even worse. Judy decided to do something, so she called Union Gap. When she didn't hear back, she called the bank that now owns the property.
"I was told something would be done right away and it would be cleaned up but as you can see it still isn't," she said.
Action News asked the city why they haven’t taken action on the property.
"Well, being that it's a bank-owned property a bank repossession, these are our hardest, most difficult," said David Spurlock who manages Union Gap’s code enforcement.
Banks deal with thousands of these properties. When a complaint comes in, it goes on a long waiting list. It also forces cities to take more legal steps to get it cleaned up, all that takes time.
Union Gap said if there's no action from the banks soon, it will take the necessary steps to get rid of the mess.
It's illegal for you to take matters into your own hands and cut down a neighbor's weeds because it's private property. Your best bet is to lodge a complaint with your city and stay on top of it until it's clean.
We will do the same.
