Home foreclosures in Metro Detroit trigger rise in eyesores

Cities beef up blight ordinances, mowing budgets as grass and foreclosure rates grow

For the past six months, Jane McHale-Plieth cringed every time she looked across the street at her neighbor's lawn.

The grass on the foreclosed property was always in need of a cut and quickly became an eyesore in the otherwise immaculate Renaud Road neighborhood, she said.

"You can see how one bad apple spoils the bunch. It brought down the home values," said McHale-Plieth, 40, a five-year Grosse Pointe Woods resident.

Uncut lawns are more apparent this season as foreclosure rates throughout Metro Detroit continue to climb. Foreclosure filings in May are up 84.2 percent in Wayne County, 140.6 percent in Oakland County and 140.5 percent in Macomb County over the same month last year, according to RealtyTrac, an industry research firm.

The two problems are more often found hand-in-hand, forcing cities from Grosse Pointe Woods to Warren to pass new ordinances or beef up mowing budgets to quell the abundant noxious grass complaints from residents. The issue is also sprouting up in Howell, which has a liberal grass height of 13 inches before it's in violation.

"When you have too many foreclosed homes, the blight becomes more pronounced," said Furhad Waquad, president of the Michigan Association of Realtors.

Grosse Pointe Woods officials earlier this month passed a new ordinance that allows a city-contracted mower to enter a neglected property, cut the grass when it reaches 6 inches or taller and bill the property owner, Assistant City Attorney Chip Berschback said. If the bill isn't paid by the owner -- which on a foreclosed property could be a bank, real estate company or former occupant -- a tax lien is placed on the property.

The ordinance was proposed after the city's code enforcement officers recognized there were more vacant homes than normal; there are currently about a dozen foreclosures, Berschback said.

In previous years, grass at about five unoccupied homes -- usually in a state of foreclosure -- were left uncut. This year, the city-contracted mowers have cut about 10 properties, said Gene Tutag, building official for the division of safety inspection.

After receiving a complaint, code enforcement officers visit the property and, if the grass is too tall, the owner receives a notice to cut it within 48 hours, he said. If the work isn't done, a contracting company is sent.

It costs the city at least $60 to mow a 40-foot lot, said Tutag, noting he's unsure how many property owners paid their bill.

"It's really sad," he said. "When you see an unkempt property, it's not that desirable to look at. It's a detriment to that whole block."

In Warren, there are an estimated 1,200 homes in a state of foreclosure, city spokesman Joe Munem said. It's become such a problem, he said, that city officials have doubled their lawn mowing contract so that two crews will mow about 250 lawns a week.

"Some of these people, once (the foreclosure process) starts, they just walk away," he said. "This is something you just can't have."

Then those properties become a hazard because they're a breeding ground for rats and children sometimes play in the tall grass, said Joe Rivas, administrator of Warren's property maintenance division.

"When we have really tall grass, we consider that to be a nuisance that we're trying to limit," he said. "Our first priority is to get someone who is responsible to take care of the house."

And when that doesn't work, Rivas said, it's up to the city to maintain the property.

"We want to keep the neighborhoods strong," he said. "We obviously want our city to look as pristine as possible. It becomes a pretty tense situation."

Ray Boggus of Warren said he always maintains his yard and believes it's every homeowner's responsibility.

The 66-year-old said he wishes his neighbor -- whose lawn has been tagged by a city code enforcement officer because it's about 3 feet high -- had the same mentality.

"He usually cuts it before it gets that high," he said. "It's unsightly. It deteriorates from the attractiveness of the neighborhood."

But the problem with foreclosed properties stretches beyond the unkempt lawns, said Allan Rubin, Howell's only code enforcement officer. The properties are difficult to manage because it takes a lot of leg work to figure out who has possession of the home. It often takes Rubin up to 15 phone calls until he finds the responsible person or company.

This season, Rubin said he's already tagged about 50 foreclosed and vacant homes with uncut lawns. However, he's hired a landscaper -- at $60 to $80 a lawn -- only six times.

"It's a horrible problem. The more foreclosures, the more vacant homes and the more vacant houses, the bigger the problem of getting the grass cut," Rubin said. But, "the grass has to get cut. If I have to cut it all summer, I'll cut it all summer because it reflects poorly on a city. I stay on top of it.

"We're proud of our city and we want to keep it looking nice."

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