Abandoned house vandalized on my block

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I walked to the grocery today and on my way home noticed that there is a house on my block that is vacant and has been vandalized. Curtains were blowing out of the broken windows! This is a shock here.

Okay, now I'm headed to the city's tax appraisal website to try to track down an owner to see if I can contact them. Sorry, but I already lived in one city neighborhood where absentee owners left their houses to just rot, until the city possessed them due to arrears in taxes. The the city left them to rot and be vandalized until there was not much choice but to bulldoze them. One abandoned house has a way of leading to more and makes many decent people afraid to live nearby and fearful about the values of their own homes being affected.

Mine is a neighborhood where a lot of elderly have lived all their lives. An abandoned house here is very unusual even though we are inner city. I'm guessing that the owner died with no heirs. That makes me uneasy: No one to take responsibility? Ownership tied up in the courts?

Tomorrow or perhaps over the weekend I will see if the nearest neighbors know anything about the house.

What would you do?

(P.S. Any St Louis rehabbers, drop me a note! You wouldn't believe what a charming street this is on.)

[tinapbeana]

sorry to hear that, joan. from the sounds of it, i live in a very similar neighborhood (my neighbor is 94 and has lived in the house since 1936 when she & her hubby built it!). we have an empty house across the street, so i could find myself in a similar situation as you down the road.

if it were me, i'd call the police to let them know there'd been a break in at some point. they'll most likely be able to get in touch with the owners. also, i'd talk to some of the more spry and active neighbors and ask if they'd keep an eye out for strange activity. maybe even create an official neighborhood watch. having lived their so long, most would have a vested interest in keeping the area safe. plus, if they're anything like my grandma, they might not sleep very much and could keep an eye out at night too.

[Broken Arrow]

Hmm... there are some controvery regarding the "broken window" theory. Nevertheless, an abandoned house is never a good omen. They attract anyone from homeless squatters to dope dealers. The latter being the biggest problem because where there is a dealer, that's where the "customers" will swarm to, and all the associated problems along with them.

In my city, we have a policy where if the Police has had to go to that location for 3 times or more, that abandoned building will be slated for bulldozing. And they're fairly aggressive about it too, which helps alleviate drug-related problems in that area. Of course, it only displaces the problem elsewhere, but at least it gives dope dealers less places to hide.

[Duchesse]

You're doing the right thing.

Contact the municipality responsible for real estate taxes to get a contact for the owner.


The buildings dept can be contacted for a possible inspection of the property. If there are violations and it seems so, they could seal the building.

If reported to fire officials they too have authority to come out to inspect for fire violations. If violations are noted they can secure or put in some order with the buildings dept to inspect/secure the building based on the fire dept violations.


It may seem like a lot of work but once you become involved, you're in.

Good Luck!