(Adults,) Kids Party in Foreclosed Homes, Leave Wake of Vandalism (just spreading the wealth...)

Kids Party in Foreclosed Homes, Leave Wake of Vandalism
Party-Throwing Minors, Criminals Make Themselves at Home in Vacant Houses
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
March 4, 2009

Windows were smashed, beer cans were strewn across the lawn, light fixtures were pulled out of the ceiling, the drywall was kicked out exposing the studs in the walls, and on nearly every available surface, spray paint indicated what that section of the house was to be used for, from the "liquor wall" to the "sex room."

The Ft. Myers, Fla., party ended late last month with 17 people lined up in the driveway staring into the blinding lights of a police cruiser's headlamps. Seven of them, aged 18 to 20, were on their way to the station to be fingerprinted and charged with loitering, prowling and contributing to the delinquency of a minor; the other 10, all under 18, faced an even worse fate -- explaining everything to their parents.

The recession gives people few reasons to celebrate, and families forced to foreclose on their homes and move out have little occasion to party. But for some young people across the country, the explosion of homes abandoned by their owners, like the one in Ft. Myers, is cause for celebration.

While a few kids hanging out may seem harmless enough, these foreclosure parties in vacant homes are often accompanied by drug and alcohol use, truancy, burglary, vandalism, and sometimes violence.

Police say breaking up a party, however, is not enough to stop the problem, which can encourage more troublesome criminal activities and diminish property values for an entire neighborhood.

One way it could be done: After the foreclouser is final, let the foreclosed owner remain in the house, as a tenant/house setter until the property is sold.

This is the best option. Better than letting the property stay vacant.

This is one of our concerns. We wanted to buy our house this summer in preparation to coming home in retirement from working in the overseas dependent schools. (Military schools for dependents). We are afraid to have a house sitting empty, though, since it might attract activity such as this. Who would be responsible for repairing it if it were damaged and vandalized?

This type of damaged happened to an abandoned mobile home across the road from us. It sat back in the woods, so kids would party back there. We were constantly running kids off from the property as it was a safety hazard. We kept trying to get the county to notify the owner and get them to do something about it, but it didn't do any good.

Then one of our kids told us that another kid in the neighborhood told them that they stashed their drugs in the house, so my husband and a friend went over there and found a bag of white powder along with a mirror that had been used for snorting the stuff. We called the Sheriff's Dept. and they said later that it tested positive for PCP. We asked for their help in contacting the county to get something done. Shortly after that, the mobile home was finally demolished.

Now we have another abandoned mobile home across the street, they just pulled a moving van up and moved everything out a little over a week ago, leaving the keys on the kitchen counter. Needless to say, we are very concerned...but at least this one isn't set back in the woods like the other one was so it will be easier to keep an eye on.

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