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Hernando Today

Foreclosure's Rancid Odor

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By KYLE MARTIN

Published: July 25, 2008

SPRING HILL - Foreclosures stink.

Not just for the homeowner but, as Doug Ellison will tell you, the neighbors left behind. In Ellison's situation, the house next door, 3315 Gretna Drive, has been sitting vacant since mid June.

When he came back from vacation at the end of June, the cleaning crew sent by the bank had left behind eight bags of garbage, a busted lamp and an upturned desk.

Unsightly? Sure. But that isn't Ellison's main problem. He's trapping rats in his backyard now. And as the day warms up, maggots squirm on the putrid bags of refuse.

The knee-high weeds in the front yard don't help matters.

"It's just unbelievable," Ellison said.

County Code Enforcement was notified July 7, a fact that was confirmed by Interim Director Mark Caskie. But the case is still open, meaning a code enforcement inspector has yet to drop by.

It appears to Ellison that code enforcement is dragging its feet in the matter.

"If I set my sprinkler up on the wrong (watering) day, they would probably pop out of the woods," he said.

Ellison would be just fine with mowing the yard himself. He and the neighbors could divide the trash and have it collected with their own waste on the next pick-up date.

But he doesn't want to get in trouble for trespassing.

Liz Piedra, the listed seller, says she's heard plenty of complaints from the neighbors, but she has no authority to clean it up. That's the bank's job and, despite her frequent calls, she's received no authorization.

"Typically (banks) do take the trash out. I've never had this problem," she said.

The listed owner of the property, LaSalle Bank National Association, has a listed address in a business complex in Irving, Texas.

There is no listed number, and a representative of the complex said they had moved out.

Caskie said foreclosed homes are treated no differently than any others.

When an inspection is completed, the property owner is notified and given a certain period of time to correct the situation. If that doesn't happen, a contractor completes the work and the owner is billed.

Ellis doesn't really care who cleans up the mess, so long as it's done.

"We're at our wits end," he said.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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