By: Las Vegas Now Staff
The foreclosure crisis has left thousands of homes in Clark County sitting empty. Those vacant properties soon become eyesores.
A North Las Vegas man is doing his part to try to prevent an abandoned home from becoming a neighborhood nuisance. Now, he says he was threatened with jail time.
The owners abandoned the place a few weeks ago because they couldn't afford it. The grass was overgrown and the pool collecting debris. The man next door had enough, so he decided to spruce up the place. But the bank that owns the home threatened him with jail.
For the past two weeks Ken Gifford has taken care of a home that isn't his own. Although it seems like a noble deed, it's in his best interest, “I don't want my property value going down.”
His neighbors couldn't afford to keep it and while the foreclose notice wasn't posted on Gifford's front door, the crisis hit home, “I have seen it dotted in the neighborhood and all of a sudden it's right next door.”
The home will likely sit empty for months, “There are three houses right around there that are. Their yard has been that way for two years — no landscape, broken windows, and I don't want this house to turn out like that.”
While the owners walked away, their neighbors are now the ones who must pay.
“This almost looks like corn here growing up,” said Gifford. “So the pool's going to turn green and the yards going to turn brown unless somebody does something.”
Worried the pool might become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, he called for help.
“I called U.S. Bank. They said call the owners and I said they aren't here,” said Gifford. “Then he basically said, “Sir, I am not going argue with you. Goodbye.' Click.”
So Gifford started keeping up the property, but he says the bank told him to stop, “They said if I come on the property, I am trespassing and I can be arrested and put in jail.”
North Las Vegas code enforcement says the owners are responsible for upkeep until the bank takes over. That could be a year or more. That's too long for Gifford to live next to a mess. He says he's willing to risk going to jail.
“All they need to do is turn on the water and electricity and the neighbors will take care of the rest, but nobody will do that,” he said.
North Las Vegas code enforcement officials don't recommend neighbors clean up foreclosed property. It is against the law to trespass. But if you need help getting a property in your neighborhood cleaned up, call code enforcement to find the owner or they will clean it and the owner will have to pay for it.
Email your comments to Reporter Travell Eiland
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