Friday, July 29, 2005

City tries intimidation!

Oh the humility!

Here is a picture of one of our neighborhood's problem properties. This is 55 Margaret Street Dayton, OH 45410. The owner of this property purchased it in 2003 for $14,100 at a sheriff sale and has done little to the property since. He has outstanding code violations on the property. At least 6 of them for the exterior. Some of the compliance dates are January 2004. He has not done anything to fix the problems other than secure the property by boarding it up and cut the grass. This morning at 11:30 AM the City of Dayton slapped this sign up in an effort to shame the owner into making repairs to the house.

This reads
Michael H. Frantz

10179 Cherry Tree Trace
Centerville, OH 45458
937-885-9414

I was the first person to call him to congratulate him on achieving such an honor. Only three other properties in the entire city wear this merit badge! I was impressed that he returned my call so quickly. Mr. Frantz owns other property in the area but does not have the resources to fix this one up profitably. This one is completely gutted and will require a complete renovation. Hey, all the dirty work has already been done! All the plaster and lath is gone!
Mr. Frantz did mention that he got his last ticket from the city regarding this house while he was in Florida for a month. He obviously has the resources to take a trip to a vacation state but no resources to improve the property values of this neighborhood. Mr. Frantz is willing to entertain offers for the house. His address and phone number is on the sign so it is posted above. Of course you can call him and tell him how disgusted you are that he is willing to blight Margaret Street with this house. If you are interested in the house there is an outstanding real estate tax bill of approximately $3470.

3 comments:

Derek said...

Wow, if that house was in Vancouver, it would be worth hundreds of thousands just for the land. I can't believe you could buy something that cheap. What are most places going for in Dayton? You'd think he'd just sell if for lot value, make a profit, and be done with it.

Greg said...

This sort of thing disgusts me. That nice little house could be a good home for someone and he is just letting it rot. There is a place 6 house down from a friends house. It is a nice 2 story Queen Anne that sat vacant for years. People would break in and camp and one day it caught on fire. The owner came out and put plywood up. That was two years ago and I just went by it today. It still has the plywood on the doors and windows. Not one thing has been done. It is slowly deteriorating and soon it will be gone.

K said...

I'm with Greg on this one. There are at least four houses in our small town that have owners unwilling to sell but also unwilling to do any upkeep on the properties. Two out of the four are homes someone inherited and supposedly have sentimental attachment to. But why, for the love of God, would you leave something to rot if you really cared about it? Why not let someone else buy it and take care of it, and then you can just drive by every now and then and reminisce?