Getting burned out houses removed - how do you get this done?

[lizaanne]

I know - this is probably a dead horse that I'm about to beat, but how do you go about getting rid of burned out houses? I am sick and tired of seeing the, what is it now, four or five?? burned out houses on Eight Mile between Woodward and Dequindre.

Who do you call to get these things pulled down? They look like hell, and they keep setting them on fire over and over.

[raptor56]

ehhhm *cough* *cough* Call the City.....

[Blarf]

Try calling the city, but they might be too busy spending $1.4 million to take down a single historic building downtown.

[Lorax]

Like I've said a thousand times before, there is no lack of money to demolish things in Detroit, there was apparently enough to bring down Hudson's, the Statler, now the Lafayette amongst dozens more.

The crappy wooden crack houses sitting burned and leaning all over the city would benefit more from the 1.4 mill being used to demo the Lafayette.

Don't EVER tell me there is not enough money around- when there's a fat kickback involved with demolition companies, then they'll find the money.

[mjs]

Not that much compared to the $16 million they turned down from a private investor that required they not reduce what they were already spending on it. They didn't want outsiders telling them how to run things. Its alos not much compared to the money they lost from the Feds because they were too damned slow.

Building and Safety is responsible for the removal of abandoned structures. Even if they were on their game, there's just simply not enough money. I think Kwame raised the average price to $16,000 per house.

[urbanoutdoors]

It will take a while going the city route... this route is still lengthy but try M. Russel at wayne county nuisance abatement [[313) 967 – 2203 to see if action can be taken against individual property owners... http://www.waynecounty.com/nap/index.aspx
BS&E # is [[313) 224 – 0419

[lizaanne]

It will take a while going the city route... this route is still lengthy but try M. Russel at wayne county nuisance abatement [[313) 967 – 2203 to see if action can be taken against individual property owners... http://www.waynecounty.com/nap/index.aspx
BS&E # is [[313) 224 – 0419

Thank you! Practical advice!

I have to start from the assumption that a simple call to the city is not going to result in squat. I would imagine that they have already received multiple calls about these homes, and there they still stand, ready and waiting for another fire.

[jt1]

Contact the press and the Feds and tell them you have reason to believe that Jimmy Hoffa is buried under the house.

[Detroitnerd]

Tell the Air Force al-Qaeda is there.

[Blueidone]

If you are a property owner in the area, and particularly if it is near a school or an area where children play, write a letter to the Building and Safety Engineering Department Director. I do not know the name of the current director.

We did this on the east side and got a house demolished within a month or so. You have to plead your case...IN WRITING...forget calling...state the safety issues; kids walking by on the way to the park, school, whatever; if house falls or catches fire, it's too close to the neighbor's house and will damage it; whatever you can think of.

Keep writing if it doesn't work the first time...the more letters the more attention you will get. If you can, get ahold of a state representative for your area, copy them on the letter...copy the Council and the Mayor.

It does work if you put it in writing and be persistent.

[Lorax]

At 16,000 buck per house, I'll do it.

I can't believe that there is no one who can remove, albeit, mostly frame structures for 16,000.00.

If we're talking an average, or large building, then there's obviously a difference.

[Stosh]

I've heard that the Eight Mile Boulevard Association has been involved in attempting to get those houses demolished. According to them, they have been in contact with the Mayor's office. It's not just a problem between Woodward and Dequindre either, more along Detroit's side down further East, where residential abuts to Eight Mile road.

$16,000 to demolish a house, that's laughable. Average cost is around $5600 from what I've seen lately.

[Pam]

http://www.blightbusters.org/about.html

[Bearinabox]

Rent a bulldozer and DIY.

[DetroitDad]

Stage a protest outside the Lafayette on demolition day, and hand out fliers. Be sure to wright press releases for all the news media organizations and Detroit area bloggers.

[staticstate]

plant some ghetto palms in them?

[wolverine]

Follow Blueidone advice. It's also written in the Vacant Property Toolbox Guide under the section of getting dangerous properties demolished [written] by the Detroit Vacant Property Campaign

[EMG]

Tell the Air Force al-Qaeda is there.

That probably has the best chance of success out of anything else suggested in this thread - but even so the odds would have been better back during the Bush administration.

[mjs]

That was $16,000 per building. That sounds far less outrageous. Kwame's administration, citing environmental concerns, paid an average $7500 per house. Wolverine, was this what you were referring to? http://www.semcog.org/uploadedFiles/...Sum.pdf?n=6836

Last I heard, nuisance abatement, couldn't divert the resources to make owners pay for demolition if they didn't lay a claim to it. They were happy to get an uncontested title and notify building and safety that the municipalities had title and it couldn't be listed on the website as is. Building and safety may or may not have then prioritized these demolitions so the empty lot had a shot at getting back on the tax roster. When building and safety demolish without clear title, the property is usually a title nightmare thus ensuring it will never be useful again unless privately taken by the slow method of adverse possession.

Last I heard, the other municipal organizations were still agreeing to write off the back liens to clear title for nuisance abatement so the land could get back on the tax rosters. Like the potential owners, private lien interests get removed by the courts when they either can't be found, don't appear, or refuse to rehabilitate the property. Alot of the lien holders collapsed in the early eighties and their interests got bundled in government hands. The only exception being water and sewage who would keep their liens making the property have a negative net worth thus unsellable. I know that was being worked on at one point.

[elganned]

plant some ghetto palms in them?

I'm sure they're already there...in force.

[DetroitPetanque]

How much could a box of dynamite cost?! Just light the fuse and run!

[wolverine]

That's it mjs, although my printed version looks different.

[kraig]

I had some movement on something that I just started work on today.

Try contacting the Environmental Affairs Department.
[[313) 471-5100
[[313) 876-0974

They're located in Suite 1800 of the First National Building downtown. I didn't call, I went down there myself, and the people that I spoke with were very helpful.

Because the homes your concerned about have been fire damaged, they fit into more than just the Dangerous Building/Open to trespass category. Environmetal Affairs also corresponds with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality [[MDEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency [[EPA). So additional resources may be available for what you're looking to do.

Make sure you provide all the environmental concerns;
Tall weeds and grass
Rodents
Illegal dumping
Animal Fece
And anything else that you can think of.

Try to provide lots of pictures as well.

I applaud your effort for trying to do something about a bad situation. It's easy to just sit back and complain, but it takes hard work and effort to actually make a difference.

[raptor56]

Out of curiosity, what happens if you call your buddy Bulldozer Bill and you level the place yourself? There'd be a rubble heap leftover, but a pile of rubble is less of a hazard than a perpetually burning, ready to collapse house. Would there be any real legal repercussions on you and Bill?

[jackie5275]

Put up Tiger Stadium sign on it.