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Article
Courtesy of BayNews 9
May
19, 2009
CITRUS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- Foreclosures exist in every county in the Bay area, and the upkeep of these homes is a problem for many of them.
But in Citrus County, neighbors of one vacant property are dealing with more than just tall grass. They say the house has been taken over by rats and it smells.
As one resident says, "it's a
stinkin' mess."
The house has been sitting vacant for about a year. The neighbors have been doing what they can to keep the lawn cut and the outside of the house in order.
Neighbor Donald Brown is coping by putting up plants along a fence he just built to block his view of the home.
"It's a little bit of a barrier for the smell and a little bit of a barrier for what you might see," he said.
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Piles of rat feces litter the interior of the house. |
"The amount of rat poop surrounding the property not only on the inside but on the outside, it's just too much," said real estate agent Richard
Venticinque.
Venticinque has been trying to unload the foreclosure, with no success.
"I've tried to sell this house," he said. "I've shown it to folks but you walk in the front door and they're running to the car."
The problems with the home extend to the backyard. The pool is full of green water, which makes a perfect breeding spot for mosquitoes.
The house in Citrus Springs is not unusual. Venticinque said that there are a number of houses, and that the banks that own them need to do more to keep them clean.
Not only will it make it more likely that the house will sell, but Venticinque says it's not fair to make the rest of the neighborhood deal with it.
Residents and real estate agents are hoping county officials will come up with a plan to get
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The green water in the pool is an ideal breeding spot for mosquitoes. |
the
owners of these homes to do a better job of keeping them clean.
Right now, officials with Mosquito Control said they are treating the pools they know about to control the pest population.
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