PORTLAND, Ore. — It takes only one house to upset an entire neighborhood: In this case, it’s an abandoned Tudor-style home at the end of Southeast Martins Street that has been vacant for years.
“It was a chop shop with over 18 people living there. There were children involved, and we had to get DHS involved," said Kari, who lives two doors down and has worked with the neighborhood to mitigate some of the problems there.
“It would not surprise me if there was a dead body in there, I swear,” she added.
At a closer look, the windows are broken, and the front door has been boarded up. In just the past couple of years, Portland police have responded to the property 32 times.
It’s just one of six vacant properties the city is now looking to foreclose on.
“These properties have been identified as causing significant problems for neighbors, and they are the subject of multiple and frequent police calls,” said Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler at a recent city council meeting.
The city’s Bureau of Development Services recommended six properties for foreclosure, including the one on Southeast Martins. It’s a move neighbors have been waiting for.
“Our goal is to minimize the effects and problems these problems create in the community,” said Kevin Foster, Portland’s Foreclosure Prevention Manager.
The six properties reach all corners of Portland. The owners owe more than $700,000 in unpaid fees for code violations and nuisance complaints. However, the city has not been able to reach them.
Adrian, who lives next to one of the vacant properties in North Portland, has watched the place deteriorate over the years.
“We worry that the wrong kind of people are going to notice it and move in,” he said.
“There's been a real lack of response from the city to deal with the list of problems that are associated with these abandoned properties,” added another neighbor, who did not want to be identified.
Portland City Council will soon vote on whether to sell the properties. If they vote yes, Oregon law requires them to give the property owner one year to reclaim it before they take over.
Meanwhile, patience among neighbors is running thin.
“It’s really hard on the neighborhood. It just feels like you’re screaming into a void,” said the anonymous neighbor.
City commissioners have voiced their concerns over how long the foreclosure process takes in Oregon, and there are talks of lobbying the state to change laws to speed up the process.