McKinley and Riverside (This old house)

Stephen Eisel · Post by **Stephen Eisel** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:00 pm

What is going on with the house with out a roof? (a bit of sarcasm)

Jim O'Bryan · Post by **Jim O'Bryan** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:31 pm

Stephen Eisel wrote:What is going on with the house with out a roof? (a bit of sarcasm)

Is it the one on the Southern corner?

If so the family went through some hardship with dad dying or moving into a rest home.

The house was compeltely run down and is being fixed.

If it is the one I think.

.

Stephen Eisel · Post by **Stephen Eisel** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:42 pm

Jim O'Bryan wrote:
Stephen Eisel wrote:What is going on with the house with out a roof? (a bit of sarcasm)
Is it the one on the Southern corner?

If so the family went through some hardship with dad dying or moving into a rest home.

The house was compeltely run down and is being fixed.

If it is the one I think.

.

I have not seen anyone driveway or in the home for some time. One of the kids (I think) use to play football for Lakewood High. I use to see them alot but then they were gone. The house has looked abandoned for some time.

Jeff Endress · Post by **Jeff Endress** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:47 pm

I've wondered about this too. The house is a ranch-ish house on the northeast corner of McKinley and Riverside (Where Mckinley tees into Riverside). Some windows are boarded up, a lot of the roof has blown off. It's a real mess. Don't know the present legal status, but it looks as though it should be condemned.

It would be a great place for the Lakewood building Dept. to get some practice writing citations.

Jeff

Dave Sharosky · Post by **Dave Sharosky** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:55 pm

I don't know if that's the exact house, but a home in that area was boarded up by the city of Lakewood a few weeks back and is being forclosed on. In fact it was turned into a rental and the police were called because the renters were kicked out and they came back and kicked in the door to get something out of the house.

Stephen Eisel · Post by **Stephen Eisel** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:04 pm

Jeff Endress wrote:I've wondered about this too. The house is a ranch-ish house on the northeast corner of McKinley and Riverside (Where Mckinley tees into Riverside). Some windows are boarded up, a lot of the roof has blown off. It's a real mess. Don't know the present legal status, but it looks as though it should be condemned.

It would be a great place for the Lakewood building Dept. to get some practice writing citations.
Jeff

Thanks, I just had about a gallon of orange juice run through my nose.. Hey, that kind of feels good...

dl meckes · Post by **dl meckes** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:58 pm

Councilman Butler can give you a run-down of the recent history of this property. He knows it well.

I've witnessed him mowing the lawn and working with neighbors to help clean the yard up so it isn't such an eyesore.

Kevin Butler · Post by **Kevin Butler** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:21 am

Thanks, dl. Here's an update I sent out recently:

Many of you have been closely following the progress of the home at the northeast corner of McKinley and Riverside, which is falling more into disrepair each day. Today I received an update from Plymouth Park Tax Service, which holds the primary lien and is foreclosing on the home for unpaid property taxes.

Plymouth Park confirmed what I had feared: the tax lien is worth $180,000, not counting current taxes due to the county treasurer. Apparently, it's been nearly 15 years since the successive owners have paid property taxes, and it took much, much too long for the taxing authorities to initiate foreclosure. This is a shame.

What this means is that the county sheriff, which will put the home back on the auction block later this year, is permitted to accept bids only in an amount greater than the total taxes owed. I suspect even the most aggressive or desperate buyers won't be willing to bid upwards of $200,000 for a crumbling house.

But there is hope yet. If the property does not sell at the sheriff's auction, title will automatically transfer into the name of Plymouth Park, which will then be able to negotiate a private sale for a more reasonable amount. Several people have indicated a willingness to join together to discuss purchasing the home. To that end, Rose Leininger at Plymouth Park has offered to receive calls with respect to negotiating a sale later this year. To begin the process, please call her at (216) 621-2000. She said she probably can't offer much information until later in the summer.

As for the tall grass problem, which cannot be overstated, Lakewood's division of health historically has stepped in to mow lawns when property owners refused to do so [and has done so this year]. The city then places its invoice, per our ordinances, on the tax advice.

Most recently, the home has been the subject of several "friendly" break-in attempts by relatives of the current owner, who is wanted on a warrant issuing from Judge Carroll's court for failing to appear at one or more housing-violation hearings. The police have done a good job responding to calls and preventing people from entering.

Again, I hope and expect that the foreclosure situation will be resolved entirely by the end of the year and that the house will be sold to a worthy buyer.

Best wishes,

Kevin Butler
(Councilman, Ward 1)

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:28 am

How do you go 15 years without paying property tax?

Kevin Butler · Post by **Kevin Butler** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:30 am

And lest dl get away with a deflected compliment, she and many others helped with the late-spring cleanup at the house as well. Thanks again, dl. Very much appreciated.

Dave Sharosky · Post by **Dave Sharosky** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:10 am

Dave Sharosky wrote:I don't know if that's the exact house, but a home in that area was boarded up by the city of Lakewood a few weeks back and is being forclosed on. In fact it was turned into a rental and the police were called because the renters were kicked out and they came back and kicked in the door to get something out of the house.

I was close with limited info on that. That is a shame. And how do you get a way with not paying property taxes for 15 years. I know of someone who's title company, for some reason, didn't pay a half years worth of tax and the house almost went up for auction. There's another property that was recently for sale in lakewood that had a total, somewhere around $20,000 in back property taxes. Last year I was looking to buy a house and almost fell on the floor when I saw that.

dl meckes · Post by **dl meckes** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:10 pm

Kevin Butler wrote:And lest dl get away with a deflected compliment, she and many others helped with the late-spring cleanup at the house as well. Thanks again, dl. Very much appreciated.

Thanks, Kevin, but I don't remember actually doing anything. I think I swished a broom around a couple of times, but you and the neighbors did all the work. We just happened to show up looking for two of those neighbors at the time the brunt of the work was finished.

Several neighbors in the area have been very active in their attempts to protect their neighborhood and it's a shame that things have gotten to that point with that house.

When we ask, how do things get to that point, there are many reasons.

Cuyahoga county has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. This kind of decline and neglect is happening all over - we're still kind of unused to it in Lakewood. I wouldn't mind finding out from the county how the non-payment of taxes slid for 15 years.

Jim O'Bryan · Post by **Jim O'Bryan** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:35 am

DL

So I missed the story, what happened with the old guy that lived there?

Kevin

Thanks for the hard work in Ward 1.

.

McKinley and Riverside (This old house)

McKinley and Riverside (This old house)

Re: McKinley and Riverside (This old house)

Re: McKinley and Riverside (This old house)