United Fight Against Foreclosures

May 13th, 2008

In Contra Costa it looks like the Wild West. Personal items like clothes, toys together with garbage are strewn in front of the house while scavengers take their pickings. One vagrant yanked off a complete yard shed. But people are not willing to take it lying low anymore. Communities are putting up a united fight against foreclosures. It is not just Contra Costa – the scene is being repeated across the country, reeling under the foreclosure crisis.

In Sao Pablo, West County, the residents are worried about rising number of vacant houses. These are attracting criminals and creating health problems with overgrown gardens and stagnant pools. On Karen Road a three bed roomed house has a signboard in front asking a price for $429,000. Without replacing the signboard, the figure is crossed and replaced with $300,000. In another instance the price is brought down from $429,000 to $275,000. Daniel Vess, the owner of another unit listed for $130,000 is willing to let it go for $100,000. In the same locality there are 20 vacant houses.

On Jennifer Drive a house is priced at $279,000. The inside is in a sorry condition with defaced walls, inflammables piled next to hot water heater while flies and rats lord over stinking garbage. Four days ago a pit bull was found in a sorry starving condition. Finally the community contacted the new owner – a bank. The house had till recently been occupied by a dozen residents. The previous owner could not be traced. The steady pace of deterioration worries the neighbours. Bert DeMesa and his wife are residents in this locality for 19 years and do not want to go anywhere else in the evening of their lives. Bert is willing to mow the neighbouring garden but is hesitant to walk into a house that belongs to another.

The neighbours are being told to contact the office of the Sheriff if they notice trespassers on vacant plots. So far no reports have come through from Montalvin Manor.

Letters are being sent to the banks and other owners from Property Conservation Division in this regard. But the letters are being returned because the records about ownership are outdated. It is only when ownership is regularized that the local authorities can bill them for maintenance. The building officials are doing the best they can but sometimes they come up against a bureaucratic wall.