Garbage, Crime and Rats Plague Abandoned Boarded Up Foreclosure Homes

Image by Charles Jeffrey Danoff via Flickr

Sometimes we forget how quickly a neighborhood can deteriorate when there are foreclosed properties on every block. We can easily quote the economic fallout from distressed homes that were sitting empty for a year or more. For example, the house values in some areas have dropped 50% since 2006. What is difficult to comprehend is the garbage piling up, the stench, especially in the hot summer months, and hundreds of rats.

The garbage issue should never happen. But one or two people throw a bag with a couple empty bottle of cans, and then there are others. Some residents see it as an opportunity to add to the pile. This reminds me of when you exit an express highway and stop at the first set of lights. Garbage is piled up.

The smell of rotting food can be unbearable. This brings us to the problem of rats. These rodents will not just remain at the foreclosed house. They will spread to other houses in the neighborhood. In addition to being a bit creepy, rats can be a health problem to your family and to your pets. Rats carry rabies and they can bite and kill your pets.

Baltimore has a serious rat problem in foreclosed houses. The Patterson Park area is taking a direct hit. Rat incidents were 49 per 1,000 residents in 2006. This number surged to 183 in 2008, and it was slightly under 400 in 2009.

In Maricopa County officials are encouraging residents to pick the citrus fruit from their trees before the rats get to them. Apparently, rats like citrus. The fruit doesn't go to waste, as it is given to the inmates at the local jail.

To get rid of the rats, you have to first get rid of the debris and the bushes that have overgrown. Many cities do not have the budget to hire more code enforcement officers. So the owners of the foreclosed house, usually the lenders, get a free pass.

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