34. Abandoned and Blighted - Rotten THorn Between Two Roses

The Thorn

This paint failure is decades old.

Blighted and abandoned the owner pays the taxes and mows the lawn. 

From the rear alley, two roses are on either side.

Abandoned and blighted houses in Sharon, PA, can ironically be in a well maintained neighborhood. The houses on either side of this property are spic and span. The owner of the property has acquired numerous properties in Sharon through the Judicial Sale Process. This was acquired 6.25.2015, for $150. ( 4 L 54). The owner is NOT tax delinquent and mows the grass. A week before the photographer visited the property the owner removed a seriously deteriorated exterior stairway to the second floor that posed a safety risk and public nuisance. The scenario would be a child attracted to the nuisance injured while curiously exploring. The removal was not as a result of the owner's forbearance to eliminate a risk, but in response to the city government.

Given the nature of the paint failure  on the front porch stairs, the house has not been painted in 20? 30? 40? years. As the house is sided in asbestos cement wave style siding tiles, that material holds paint very well as there is no moisture migration from the back side of the tile. So, the house is not immediately identifiable for the mess that it is from a slow drive- by. As to the asbestos siding, it is better not to consider its removal. Modern equivalent is manufactured as a fiber cement product and matches the old. So, repair and patch, not replacement is the better approach. If demolition were decided, the old siding can be judiciously and safely removed using the proper methods.

The photographer simply went to the front porch and through a window made the interior photograph. It is clear that the wiring, plumbing, heating system mechanicals, etc. were removed sometime in the past. The goal in doing so was achieved by piling plaster and wood lath shards and fragments on the floors.

The house is uninhabitable.

This is an example of a Judicial Tax Sale result that is a major drawback. The Judicial Tax Sale simply transfers ownership. The ownership comes with all liens, government and private having been cleared. There is no plan of correction for the property - rehabilitation or demolition from a Judicial Tax Sale. There is nothing to preclude the new owner from opting to be tax delinquent and setting the whole Tax Claim Buresu cycle into motion again. It does nothing to assure or compel the owner to abate, redeem or rehabilitate a property.

Any property owner within 2000 feet of an abandoned and blighted property may petition the County Court of Common Pleas for a judicially supervised conservatorship to abate, redeem and rehabilitate or demolish this structure. Fortunately, the owner is not tax delinquent. So, if an injured citizen pursued a conservatorship, there would be no government government liens ahead of the conservatorship. As is all too often the case, the municipal, school district and county by failing to acknowledge the benefits of rebirth and revitalization inherent to the supervised plan of action make
potential petitioners hesitant. It is the plan of action supervised by the  County Court of Common Pleas that is the benefit to the community leading to a revitalized property.

So, in this case, the neighbors could pursue a conservatorship and demolish the structure and split the lot to add to their house lots and lawns.

On the other hand, should a petitioner seek to rehabilitate the economics might narrowly make sense.
Using the Zillow.com website, comparable houses in the neighborhood sell in the $40,000 - $50,000 range. Of course those are houses with functioning walls, electricity, heating, plumbing, etc. As a typical petition legal and architect/engineering fees ranges from about $2500 to $7500, could the house be rehabilitated with plenty of petition sweat equity and volunteer labor? The economics say OK but most likely it would be on a break even basis.