IN CHICAGO, Foreclosed, Abandoned Homes Ripe for Catastrophic Damage In Winter!
FROZEN PLUMBING PIPES IN ABANDONED CHICAGO PROPERTIES CAN BRING DAMAGE INTO THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS!
You don't have to be a homeowner for very long to learn of the possible damage frozen, burst pipes can do. Drywall damage, flooring, carpeting, electronic equipment and electrical wiring. All can be completely trashed when uncontrolled water takes over a home.
When homes fall victim to foreclosure and abandonment in warmer climes, grass grows high. Weeds proliferate in front and back lawns. Grass turns brown. Sometimes, windows are broken, graffiti grows, and, in some cases, unwanted visitors - of both the crawling and walking variety - come to call. Important concerns, of course!
But when distressed homeowner leaves his home during winter months in cold-weather cities like Chicago , the owner leaves the home open to massive interior damage, quickly.
Chicago Tribune writer Mary Ellen Podmolik, in an article she wrote last Friday, January 9th, gave the example of a high-end home in the Wicker Park Neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, ruined by burst pipes. She sites an example of a next door neighbor who heard the water rushing next door, but felt powerless to do anything about it.
Here in Chicago, owners facing distress and possible foreclosure often have a difficult time keeping up with utility bills. Many shut off gas and electrical service when they leave, but fail to direct the City of Chicago to turn off the water service. The City can't turn off the water without the owner's direction, and water flowing through an unheated home in the middle of a tough Chicago Arctic spell is very likely to burst its pipes.
In MN, some cities have new laws to allow authorities to inspect likely vacant homes, and shut the water service off if necessary. Here in Chicago, owners of vacant properties are required to register them with the city, but not every homeowner does, especially when they leave their home under duress.
It is estimated by the City of Chicago that 10,000 vacant homes exist citywide, on average. By the middle of last month, only 2,370 were properly registered, according to the same Tribune article.
In the Chicago Neighborhood of Belmont-Cragin, the Northwest Side Housing Center, and its representative, Kate Paz, has formed a task force to quickly identify and handle maintenance or disconnection of necessary utilities on vacant buildings in Chicago Neighborhoods. She seeks help from neighborhood organizations, local Real Estate Professionals, and federal, state, and local housing authorities.
The issue, she says, is about more than simply keeping the properties attractive for possible sale. Her goal is to keep the properties in habitable condition, so they can be restored and re-occupied once the currently-sluggish Chicago real estate market begins to rebound.
Says Paz to Podmolik, "I don't want to see any of these houses torn down because they are left uninhabitable. We have some really great houses that give (our) neighborhood character."
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
