The Horror of Foreclosed Houses in New Britain
The unfolding of the foreclosure saga has left behind a trail of horror in New England. Windows have been shattered and walls marred by graffiti. Plywood has warped and everywhere there is a stench of decay. This is the common scene thousands of baseball enthusiasts witness as they pass through South Main.
A little distance to the east Ed and Lisa Basigalup work hard at landscaping trying to spruce up their three bed-room house on Sheffield Drive that they had purchased five years previously after experiencing foreclosure. But the newly laid bed of flowers and decorated sidewalk was dwarfed by the ugly shadows of neighbouring foreclosed houses. Just three houses away stands St. Thomas Aquinas School – an old building standing on 80,000 sq ft – boarded up and ghostly amidst a yard covered with filth and weeds. This is known as the blight the bureaucrats are talking about.
Ed said, “The police get called there, there was a fire inside just a couple weeks ago, there were guys going in back to rip down the gutters that I had to chase off. The neighbors here try to keep things up — one of them even went and cut the grass there when it got bad. It’s a pride issue with us. But there’s only so much you can do.”
Those living near these blighted eyesores know how the entire block takes on a dreary look because of them. There are fears that the rot will spread and spill over. Timothy Stewart the mayor who has been living here since childhood drives around the old school inspecting the hazards of fire. He also knows how quickly these abandoned house premises can turn into dumping grounds and become haunts for thieves, trespassers, drug peddlers and prostitutes with their pimps.
From this September a new law is being enforced that Stewart feel will punish absentee landlords and slumlords to clean up their units. The new regulations will do so something more than just impose fines. By it the city will override the owners who ignore notices and send their own crew to clear up the mess and do the necessary repairs. The bill would be then sent to the owners. Stewart explained, “It’s called ‘Clean and Lien, and it’s another tool to go after these people.”
Measures akin to this has been tried out in different place – Maryland, California, Arkansas, Massachusetts and Florida. Some have succeeded while others have failed. The failures have largely been due to lack of funds when the administration could not pay the workers.
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