County should push owners of abandoned homes to take responsibility

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Vacant and abandoned homes are all too common in the Las Vegas Valley, one of the epicenters of the nation’s foreclosure crisis. The problem is noticeable in neighborhoods as homes have been left untended after their owners were forced to leave. As a result, neighbors have to live with houses on their block that have yards filled with weeds and trash, not to mention algae-covered pools.

Local government officials have struggled to find a way to get abandoned properties cleaned up. As Dave Berns reported in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Sun, juvenile offenders who have been ordered to do community service have been enlisted to help. Clark County has also used private contractors who charge about $300 a home.

County officials can pass on those fees through fines and liens, which can be recovered when a house sells. But it would be better to see the owners of abandoned homes handle their responsibility and take care of their properties. Finding the real owners, though, hasn’t been easy.

It used to be that a typical homeowner would have a loan from a bank or a mortgage company, which would hold the title of the property. As Berns noted, over the past 15 years, investment firms bought millions of mortgages from the original lenders and then packaged them for sale on the derivatives markets. They were bought and sold as investments based on the risk of the underlying mortgages.

When the housing bubble burst, and homes started falling into foreclosure, the question of ownership came to light because the owners are investors who have no physical connection to the homes.

In foreclosures, legal papers that are posted on the house often list the name of the mortgage holder, typically a bank. But Jason Menke, a spokesman for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, said that doesn’t mean they are responsible. He said only about 20 percent of Wells Fargo’s foreclosed properties are actually owned by the bank. On the others, the bank served as a processor for other lenders, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In other words, the responsibility lies with someone else — whoever or wherever they may be.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani has been diligent in trying to get homes and neighborhoods cleaned up. She wants to create a registry of vacant and abandoned homes in unincorporated Clark County. The lenders that own the homes would have to name a local representative who could make repairs and maintain the property. Seventeen local governments in Florida have passed similar requirements, and county officials are considering that along with other proposals.

There is a question about how such a measure would be enforced. In a meeting last month, Giunchigliani said she didn’t want to see homebuyers saddled with fees or fines that were because of a previous owner’s failure to maintain a property.

The commission last month told county staff to review the situation and seek ways to try to find the right course of action.

This is an important issue, and the county should make this a priority. People shouldn’t have to live in neighborhoods with abandoned homes that are not maintained because an owner doesn’t take responsibility.