I-Team examines the many hurdles to resolve vacant homes in Baltimore

Addressing vacant houses is an expensive problem with absentee owners as roadblocks

Addressing vacant houses is an expensive problem with absentee owners as roadblocks

LEAD INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER JAYNE MILLER HAS THE LATEST. JAYNE: THEOW R HOUSEN O SOUTH STRICKER STREET IN BALTIMORE APPEARS SO READY TO COLLAPSE IT IS BEING PROPPED UP TO KEEP IT STANDING. THAT IS BEEN PROPPED UP FOR A YEAR AND A HALF. IT'S’BEEN LIKE THAT FOR A YEAR AND A HALF, I DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING. JAE:YN CHRISTIAN HERRTBE AND HER MOTHER HAVE LIVED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD FOR SEVERAL YEARS. DO YOU EVER SEE AN OWNER COME BY? >> NO, NO MAMA. NO OWNERS. THAT IS THE SAD PART ABOUT IT. JAYNE:HE T HOUSE HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO A VACANT BUILDING NOTICE ISSUED BY THE CITY IN 20.07 SUCH NOTESIC REQUIRES OWNERS OF VACANT BUILDINGS TO REHABILITATE OR RAISE THE BUILDING WITHIN 30 DAYS. EASIER SAID THAN DONE, BALTIMORE CITY OFFICIALSON CCEDE IN EIGHT CITY AWASH WITH VACANT HOUSES. >> IT IS NOT JUST AS SIMPLE AS DEMOLITION ALL THE BANKN I- - VACANT OR GIVE THEM TO A NONPROFIT TO XFI UP. IT IS AN EXPENSIVE PROBLEM. JAYNE: JASON HESSLER IS A DEPUTY CITY COMMISSIONER. >> ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES, ESPECIALLY MOVING QUICKLY THROUGH THE PROCESS IS OWNERSHIP. SO FOR YEARS, KWEIND OF FIGHT THAT THE CITY OWNS THE VACANT BUILNGDI SMI.THTH WHEN IN FACT -- BUILDINGS MYT H.JAYNE: THIS IS OWNEDY B AAN M WITH A PARKVILLE ADDRESS IN BALTIMORE COUNTY. WE ATTEMPTED TO REACH HIM WITHOUT SCEUCSS. OFFICIALS SAY HE IS TRAINED TO DONATE THE PROPERTY TO THE CITY. AS MUCH ASIS H BUILDING IS LEANING, IT IS NOT ON THE DEMOLITION LIST, PARTLY BECAUSE IT’S IT’S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLK.OC BALTIMORE IS A CITY OF ROW HOUSES, ATTACHED TO ONE ANOTHER. UNLIKE CITIES SUCH AS CLEVELAND, WHERE VACANT HOUSES ARE GENERALLY DETACHED. >> IN THE CITY OF CLEVELAND, THEY HAVE TYPICALLY MORE STICK FRAME, SINGLE-FAMILY WOULD CONSTRUCTED DETACHED HOUSES, SO THAT MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER WHEN WE ARE SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT DEMOLITIOASN AN OUTCOME. JAE:YN UP THE BLOCK ON STRICKER STREET IS THE SITE OF THE VACANT HOUSE THAT BURNED SEVERAL WEEKS AGO. RE-CITY FIREFIGHTERS DIED TRYING TO PUT IT OUT. IT ALSO BEEN SUBJECT TO A LONG-STANDING VACANT BUILDING NOTI.CE AND WAS AN EXAMPLE OF A BIG BARRIER TO REPURCHASING VACTAN BUILDINGS. IT WAS SUBJECT TO $50,554 IN UNPAID TAXES AND LIENS. IT’S ASSESSED VAELU WAS $6,000. >> THE LIENS DO CAUSE A PROBLEM WHEN WE ARE THINKING MORE BROADLY ABOUT HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MOVE THE VACANT SPEC INTO PRODUCTIVE USE. JAYNE: BETWEEN THE00 2 AND 300 BLOCKS, ONE THIRD OF THE PROPERTIES ARE VACANT. >> I FEEL UNSAFE. I DON’T LIKE MY KIDS PLAYING AROUND OUTSIDE. I HAVE TWO SMALL KIDS TTHA ARE STUCK IN THE HOUSE. I DON’T EVEN LIKE THEM OUTBACK WITH THE FENCE CHAINED UP. JAE:YN FOR OF THE PROPERTIES OWNED BY LLC IS CONTROLLED BY RAJV KURICHH. THE LLCS BOUGHT THE PROPERTIES BETWEEN 2006 AND 2015, NONE HAVE ACTIVE PERMITS. WE CHECKED A MONTGOMERY COUNTY ADDRESS FOR THE LLCS. A SIGN ON THE DOOR SAIITD DO NOT KNOCK. HE IS BUILDING A HOUSE IN HOWARD COUNTY. REACHED BY PHONE, HEAI SD I AM NOT A SLUMLORD. I WAS GOING TO FIX THEM UP. BUT I HIT THE SKIDS. I AM TRYING TO DO THE BEST I CAN, I JUST CANNOT GET TO THEM QUICK ENOUGH. HE SAID HE WOULD GIVEHE T PROPERTIES TO THE CITY. >> I THINK THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE ARE AT THE ABSENTEE OWNERS AND MANY OF WHOM ARE SO-CALLED INVESTORS INHE T CITY THAT JUST ARE NOT TAKING CARE OF THEIR PROPERTIES. IN RELATED TO THAT, IT IS A LEGAL CHALLENGE TO TRACK THEM DOWN AND MAKE THEM RESPONSIBLE FOR BOARDING UP AND MAKING THEIR PROPERTIES CONTRIBUTE. JAYNE: CAROL GILRTBE IS PART OF THE STATE AGENCY THAT OVERSEES PROJECT CORE, FUNDDEIN SCE 2016 TO DEMOLISH VACANT PROPERTIES. THROUGH OCTOR,BE 5034 VACANT UNITS IN BALTIMORE HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED BY PROJECT CORE. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VACANT PROPERTIES IS STILL A DAUNTING 15,017,UST J 11% FEWER THAN FIVE YEARS AGO. ALBERTS AS LEGISLATIVE CHANGES MAY BE NECESSARY TO STREAMLINE THE PROCESS OF DEALING WITH VACANT HOMES. >> IT TAKES AT LEAST SIX TO NINE MONTHS TOET G THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO DEMOLISH A BUILDING THAT HAS BEEN SERVED MULTIPLE VACANT BUILDING NOTICES. JAE:YNHE TRE ARE POCKETS OF SUCCESS. HERE ON HARLAN AVENUE AND MUST BALTIMORE, THE CYIT CONTAINED -- GAINED ACCESS TO MORE THAN TWO DOZEN PROPERTIES. THE COMMUNITY DID NOT WANT DEMOLITION,HE TY WERE PUT UP FOR DEVELOPMENT. RECENTLY, ONE OF THE REHAB HOUSES SOLD FOR NEARLY 00$3,000.

I-Team examines the many hurdles to resolve vacant homes in Baltimore

Addressing vacant houses is an expensive problem with absentee owners as roadblocks

Last month's fire that took the lives of three Baltimore City firefighters called new attention to the vexing problem of thousands of vacant houses, many of them in disrepair.The 11 News I-Team examines why there are so many hurdles to resolve the issue and few apparent solutions -- and whether any change is on the way.South Stricker Street house in disrepair for yearsThere's a rowhouse on South Stricker Street in southwest Baltimore that appears so ready to collapse it is being propped up to keep it standing.Kristian Herbert and her mother, Melissa Herbert, have lived in the neighborhood for several years."That's been propped up now for about a year and a half. We don't know what they are doing," Kristian Herbert said.When asked whether she see an owner come by the house, Melissa Herbert told the I-Team: "No. No, ma'am. No owners. That's the sad part about it."The house has been subject to a vacant building notice issued by the city in 2007. Such notices require owners of vacant buildings to "rehabilitate or raze (the) building within 30 days."Addressing vacant houses is an expensive problemBaltimore City officials concede that's easier said than done in a city awash with vacant houses."It's not as simple as 'demo all the vacants,' or 'rehab all the vacants,' or 'give them all to a nonprofit to fix up.' It's an expensive problem," said Jason Hessler, deputy housing commissioner for permits and litigation. "One of the biggest challenges, especially at moving quickly through the process, is ownership. We have to fight the 'city owns all the buildings' myth when, in fact, the majority are privately owned."The propped-up Stricker Street house is owned by a man with a Parkville address in Baltimore County. The I-Team tried to reach him without success. Officials said he's now trying to donate the property to the city.As much as the building is leaning, it is not on the demolition list because it sits in the middle of the block.Baltimore's vacants problem is uniqueBaltimore is a city of rowhouses attached to one another, unlike cities such as Cleveland, where vacant houses are generally detached."It is a city of rowhomes. It's dense. They are older construction, they are connected. You have still occupied properties," Baltimore Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy said. "In the city of Cleveland, they have more stick-frame, single-family, wood-constructed detached houses, so that makes it easier when we are specifically talking about demolition as an outcome."Up the block on Stricker Street is the site of the vacant house that burned several weeks ago. Three city firefighters died trying to put it out.It had also been subject to a long-standing vacant building notice and was an example of a big barrier to repurposing vacant buildings. It was subject to $50,554 in unpaid taxes and liens, and its assessed value was $6,000."The liens do cause a problem when we think more broadly of how to effectively remove the vacants and get them back into productive use," Kennedy said.Between the 200 and 300 blocks of South Stricker Street, one-third of the properties are vacant."I feel unsafe. I don't like my kids playing outside. I don't even like them out back even with the fence up," said Tiffany Watts, a resident.Four of the properties are owned by LLCs controlled by Rajeev Kurichh, an investor who buys rental properties. The LLCs bought the properties between 2006 and 2015 -- none have active permits.The I-Team checked a Montgomery County address for the LLCs, where a sign on the door read, "Don't knock. He doesn't live here. He's building a house in Howard County."Reached by phone, Kurichh said: "I'm not a slumlord. I was going to fix them up but I hit the skids. I'm trying to do the best I can. I just can't get to them quick enough."Kurichh said he would give the properties to the city.State: Biggest challenge is absentee ownersCarol Gilbert is assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's Division of Neighborhood Revitalization, the state agency that oversees Project Creating Opportunities for Renewal and Enterprise (Project CORE), funded since 2016 to demolish vacant properties."I think the biggest challenge are the absentee owners and many of whom are so-called investors in the city that just aren't taking care of their properties. And related to that, it is a legal challenge to track them down and make them responsible for boarding up and making their properties contribute to the community, rather than their properties being a scourge on the community," Gilbert said.Through October, 5,034 vacant units in Baltimore have been demolished by Project CORE, but the total number of vacant properties is still a daunting at 15,017, which is just 11% fewer than five years ago.Gilbert said legislative changes may be necessary to streamline the process of dealing with vacant houses."It takes at least six to nine months to get the legal authority to demolish a building that has been served multiple vacant building notices. So, that is quite a long time when a building has been sitting there for years and years being a blight on the community," Gilbert said.There are pockets of success. In the 800 block of Harlem Avenue in west Baltimore, the city acquired a whole row of properties that were vacant, but the community opposed demolition. The properties were put up for development, a developer went to work and one of the rehabilitated houses recently sold for almost $300,000.

BALTIMORE —

Last month's fire that took the lives of three Baltimore City firefighters called new attention to the vexing problem of thousands of vacant houses, many of them in disrepair.

The 11 News I-Team examines why there are so many hurdles to resolve the issue and few apparent solutions -- and whether any change is on the way.

South Stricker Street house in disrepair for years

There's a rowhouse on South Stricker Street in southwest Baltimore that appears so ready to collapse it is being propped up to keep it standing.

Kristian Herbert and her mother, Melissa Herbert, have lived in the neighborhood for several years.

"That's been propped up now for about a year and a half. We don't know what they are doing," Kristian Herbert said.

When asked whether she see an owner come by the house, Melissa Herbert told the I-Team: "No. No, ma'am. No owners. That's the sad part about it."

The house has been subject to a vacant building notice issued by the city in 2007. Such notices require owners of vacant buildings to "rehabilitate or raze (the) building within 30 days."

Addressing vacant houses is an expensive problem

Baltimore City officials concede that's easier said than done in a city awash with vacant houses.

"It's not as simple as 'demo all the vacants,' or 'rehab all the vacants,' or 'give them all to a nonprofit to fix up.' It's an expensive problem," said Jason Hessler, deputy housing commissioner for permits and litigation. "One of the biggest challenges, especially at moving quickly through the process, is ownership. We have to fight the 'city owns all the buildings' myth when, in fact, the majority are privately owned."

"It is a city of rowhomes. It's dense. They are older construction, they are connected."

The propped-up Stricker Street house is owned by a man with a Parkville address in Baltimore County. The I-Team tried to reach him without success. Officials said he's now trying to donate the property to the city.

As much as the building is leaning, it is not on the demolition list because it sits in the middle of the block.

Baltimore's vacants problem is unique

Baltimore is a city of rowhouses attached to one another, unlike cities such as Cleveland, where vacant houses are generally detached.

"It is a city of rowhomes. It's dense. They are older construction, they are connected. You have still occupied properties," Baltimore Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy said. "In the city of Cleveland, they have more stick-frame, single-family, wood-constructed detached houses, so that makes it easier when we are specifically talking about demolition as an outcome."

Up the block on Stricker Street is the site of the vacant house that burned several weeks ago. Three city firefighters died trying to put it out.

WBAL

This is the site on Stricker Street where the vacant house burned several weeks ago. Three city firefighters died trying to put it out.

It had also been subject to a long-standing vacant building notice and was an example of a big barrier to repurposing vacant buildings. It was subject to $50,554 in unpaid taxes and liens, and its assessed value was $6,000.

"The liens do cause a problem when we think more broadly of how to effectively remove the vacants and get them back into productive use," Kennedy said.

Between the 200 and 300 blocks of South Stricker Street, one-third of the properties are vacant.

"I feel unsafe. I don't like my kids playing outside. I don't even like them out back even with the fence up," said Tiffany Watts, a resident.

Four of the properties are owned by LLCs controlled by Rajeev Kurichh, an investor who buys rental properties. The LLCs bought the properties between 2006 and 2015 -- none have active permits.

The I-Team checked a Montgomery County address for the LLCs, where a sign on the door read, "Don't knock. He doesn't live here. He's building a house in Howard County."

Reached by phone, Kurichh said: "I'm not a slumlord. I was going to fix them up but I hit the skids. I'm trying to do the best I can. I just can't get to them quick enough."

Kurichh said he would give the properties to the city.

State: Biggest challenge is absentee owners

Carol Gilbert is assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's Division of Neighborhood Revitalization, the state agency that oversees Project Creating Opportunities for Renewal and Enterprise (Project CORE), funded since 2016 to demolish vacant properties.

"I think the biggest challenge are the absentee owners and many of whom are so-called investors in the city that just aren't taking care of their properties. And related to that, it is a legal challenge to track them down and make them responsible for boarding up and making their properties contribute to the community, rather than their properties being a scourge on the community," Gilbert said.

WBAL

Through October, 5,034 vacant units in Baltimore have been demolished by Project CORE, but the total number of vacant properties is still a daunting at 15,017, which is just 11% fewer than five years ago.

Gilbert said legislative changes may be necessary to streamline the process of dealing with vacant houses.

"It takes at least six to nine months to get the legal authority to demolish a building that has been served multiple vacant building notices. So, that is quite a long time when a building has been sitting there for years and years being a blight on the community," Gilbert said.

There are pockets of success. In the 800 block of Harlem Avenue in west Baltimore, the city acquired a whole row of properties that were vacant, but the community opposed demolition. The properties were put up for development, a developer went to work and one of the rehabilitated houses recently sold for almost $300,000.