House Of Slime

Neighbors incensed as bank does nothing about derelict house

Even the Landings, that gated and well-manicured, high-end subdivision south of Sarasota, has one.

It is tucked back from the road at 1780 Pine Harrier Circle. Its pool is dark green. The screen on the lanai is ripped, fruit dropping from its trees has attracted rats and thick vegetation keeps threatening to take over. But the fastidious Landings Homeowners Association keeps beating it back.

Since the former owners, Deane and Cheryl True, moved out three years ago after defaulting on $790,000 in loans, the Landings Homeowners Association has spent more than $3,000 to keep the bushes trimmed and the lawn mowed.

Members of that organization say they do not like having to spend the money and do not understand why the True's principal lender -- North Carolina-based BB&T -- has not stepped in and assumed its responsibility for maintaining the property and eventually transferring the house to a new owner.

"The lack of response on the part of the bank has been astounding," said Bill Whitman, president of the Landings Homeowners Association. "You would expect a company like that to get back to you and make a decision. But that hasn't happened.

"It is not fair to other 217 homeowners in the community," Whitman said. "It affects the aesthetics and affects the value of their of their homes."

Welcome to the post-boom world in which abandoned homes abound and lenders are reluctant to take on their responsibilities, said Jack McCabe a Deerfield Beach real estate consultant.

"Banks have been holding off taking back properties through foreclosure because they don't want the monthly expense," McCabe said. "They don't want to have to keep the lawn mowed, the pool cleaned and to pay for electricity to keep the mold down. One house would be one thing, but these banks are dealing with thousands of foreclosures and those expenses eat directly into their profits."

That said, McCabe suggested that the Landings Homeowners Association "should be thanking its lucky stars" that only one of their 218 homes is in foreclosure.

Dallas The Man With the $16 House – Dallas Observer « Ed ...

In late July, the untended, bean-shaped swimming pool at Ken Robinson’s Flower Mound home — that is, the house in which he lives — was a stew pot of viscous green slime. On a stifling midsummer evening, when he walked out the back door to vacuum one of many layers of filth, the water level was nearly at the lip of the concrete. If someone were to jump in, algae-filled slop would have spilled onto the patio. He ran to the hose spigot at the side of the house and cut off the water. This was his first time caring for a pool; he had a lot to learn.

As Robinson prepared to clean, a young couple knocked on the fence’s weathered gate. They had driven more than an hour to see him after watching him on a Channel 8 news report a week earlier. His story had since gone viral: “A $330,000 home for $16? This is not a normal process,” read Channel 8′s headline. “How to Get a McMansion for $16″ ABC News’ said. Soon, Robinson was opening fan mail from as far away as China and Thailand.

via Dallas The Man With the $16 House – Dallas Observer .

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