No, nothing has been done about this yet. I called the city to make a complaint on Friday, 4/29 and left a voice mail for Meredith. I would appreciate something being done soon as this property has looked like this for years now. On my voice mail to Meredith I also made a complaint about another property up the road at 615 W Hodge. Is just as much of an eyesore. Our neighborhood deserves better than this!

This was a 2012 tax auction sale. The buyer looks to have sold it on a Land Contract. I will reach out to the auction buyer, Bob Eschbach, and see if he is aware of situation. Tax payments continually run very delinquent. The property is subject to tax foreclosure 3.31.2017 - but they have paid before deadline last two years.

Thanks Eric.

Thanks for the response, Eric. I look forward to this getting taken care of.

Hi.
It has been a few weeks, can you please let me know what is being done about this?
Thanks!

Code Compliance sent a letter to the property owner on May 5th. It was reinspected on May 16th by Code Compliance and has been turned over the City's contractor for clean-up.

Thank you! I have noticed him taking small truck loads off the property, but the reality is that there is so much junk that it has barely made a dent.
I appreciate your quick response.

I am commenting as the site advised me to do so, or close the complaint. Since it has not yet been resolved I am keeping it open. Carol just responded to an inquiry by myself earlier in the week, as shown in above comments.

Over 2 months later it doesn't look much better. Also, did anyone check out the most southern portion of his back yard?

Hi there! Can I please get an update on this situation? It has been almost 3 months since my initial complaint and I do not see see any real improvement.

Commenting again because I received notification that my issue has been outstanding for 91 days. This has not been resolved. If anything it has gotten worse because now a car and truck are sitting in the back driveway, and because it is summer so the overgrown-ness of the backyard is evident when it grows through and over my fence.

It's probably easier to call Code Enforcement directly.
(517) 483-4361

Code Compliance reinspected the property on July 5th and has turned this over to their contractor which will be cleaning up the site. The owner will be charged for the work.

Thank you!

OMG this is the worst backyard I have seen in the city, cant imagine over 3 months to get some action on it

Though I see some improvement with the tidying of the yard, I would not say that the issue has been resolved. The house is still falling apart and the backyard is still extremely overgrown. Plus I have received no updates from those handling the case in quite some time.

Though the yard is somewhat better, of course it has been winter and hard to tell, the house is still falling apart. Also I have never received an official follow up from the city. Come summer the back yard will be completely overgrown and a mess. Therefore I do not plan to close this complaint until more is done to resolve it. Quite a negative impact it has on the value of our home.

Nothing has changed since 1 month ago when I posted last. No improvement, no response from the city.

Neighbor is currently in the process of making some improvements. Not willing to close quite yet, we'll see. Still no response from the city since July 2016.

Not a word from anyone at the city/state, whichever Carol Wood works for and though the house/yard doesn't look quite this bad anymore, it is not in a condition where I feel comfortable closing the complaint. An update/response would be great!

Still waiting on some sort of a response from the city on this. I am not planning to close the complaint until that happens.

I have forward this again to Code Compliance.

Still waiting...

STILL waiting. It's amazing that I get reminder emails every once in awhile that my complaint is still outstanding - by like almost 2 years now, but nobody else seems to get notified that this is still open and nothing has happened. Maybe the wrong party is being reminded? I have a daily reminder, thank you very much!

Disgruntled Neighbor you should know that others do receive notifications. No conspiracy in that regard.

Now the owner isn't living here anymore, he moved out a few weeks ago. Not sure if this is permanent or temporary, but the house is empty and nobody is taking care of the lawn. Not that it was ever much of a priority to begin with.

Now the owner isn't living here anymore, he moved out a few weeks ago. Not sure if this is permanent or temporary, but the house is empty and nobody is taking care of the lawn. Not that it was ever much of a priority to begin with.

This content is currently blocked. The content is either under review by SeeClickFix or has been confirmed by SeeClickFix for violation(s) of SeeClickFix Terms of Use (https://www.civicplus.com/terms-of-service). Content that aligns with SeeClickFix Terms of Use will be posted, and content that does not align with our Terms of Use will not be permitted for public viewing.

Holy cow! So sorry Disgruntal Neighbor!

Keeping this complaint open as though some things have improved slightly since my initial comment, nobody has lived here for almost 6 months and nobody has been taking care of the yard. Not that it looked much better when someone lived there. The back yard looks like it hasn't been touched in years with an above ground pool rotting and a grocery cart hiding in the overgrowth like its Where's Waldo. My complaint will stay open until the city does something about this house, besides continue to let new people purchase it when I can guarantee there is nothing about the structure that passes code! That seems like it would be illegal, but it continues to happen.

No one should live here (and currently no one is). This house and garage need a bulldozer. It's a blight on our neighborhood, and keeps our neighborhood home values down.

Someone in the neighborhood posted a notice on my door about this property, and I wanted to thank them for bringing this to my attention. I closed on the property across the street in October, and now that I have some context about this neighboring house it seems clear this has been an issue for the neighbors which now includes myself. If this place is just going to fester like it has been for the past several years, I'd be thrilled to have a blank lot across from my front window rather than this (obviously) deprecated place. I've emailed Lansing Code Compliance as well, and I'd be more than happy to continue to talk to city officials about remedying this long-standing issue.

Lansing City Inspector
scott.sanford@lansingmi.gov

Yup that's who was mentioned in the email I sent to codecom@lansingmi.gov
I'll shoot one off to Scott directly if I don't get a quick reply

I called him and left a message.
517 483 6946

He's in the city of Lansing staff directory.

Ok. First off, Scott Sanford does not do inspections for the City in our neighborhood. A nice guy named Walter does (517 483 4335).

421 W Hodge was sited on October 11, 2018, for trash in the yard and unpainted exterior wood. The city will not enforce action until spring (can't paint outside in winter).

I called Lansing building Safety (Steven Swan 517 483 4355), inquiring about permits and approved materials attained/used regarding the roof that was put on in the spring. Currently waiting for a call back.

Sometimes when you want something done, you have to do it yourself. When spring comes, and if no action regarding the trash is taken, I'll go across the street and clean it up myself. Then maybe Disgruntled Neighbor won't be disgruntled. :)

Good to note that Walter is the actual point of contact. If nothing can be done til spring I don't think they'll appreciate multiple people calling for the same issue, so I can give em a ring once the snow starts melting. The colder weather may expose further structural issues, so maybe a better case can be made at that time too.

@Greg if DIY turns out the case, I'd be more than willing to help out with a lot clean-up.

SO appreciate you guys getting right to work pestering the city about this! Yes, Walter is supposed to be the point of contact, but Walter doesn't like to respond.
Chris @ code enforcement was called and came by to cite the property at that time. I was given Walter's name and number to see about what the process may be to get it condemned and razed. I still don't know the answer as I called once a week for about 4 or 5 weeks with no response. I then called Scott Sanford, whom is his boss, with no response, so I emailed the main address and then Scott did respond.
Obviously nothing happens instantaneously, but as you can see, this complaint has been open for over 2.5 years and the property is still a dump! And that's when someone lived there! Now it's vacant and no chance for improvement. At least we won't have to smell burning trash used to heat the home now that the chimney completely fell apart!
Yes, in the spring you should take a look at the backyard - the front yard doesn't even compare, it's quite a piece of work!
Unfortunately, disgruntled neighbor will probably be so until something is actually and legitimately done about this property! Keep calling, emailing and speaking up about it though, you guys are awesome!!
THANKS!!!

Josh: Sounds good. We'll see what happens in the spring. Also, Scott Sanders did get your email.

All: From talking to Walter, since the house has vinyl windows (been replaced) intact, and doors closed, the city (he) has no authority to inspect the interior habitability/code complianceof the dwelling. It's simply ugly, in some disrepair, and vacant. Having it razed/demoed by the city would be nearly impossible. If it was a meth lab, that would be easier to have demoed.

Walter did say that fines and costs become a lien on the property, and must be paid by the owner when they occur, or when a tax bill is due, or when the property is sold. There's no getting out of it.

So, we're taking appropriate action for now. It would be nice to talk to the homeowner. You get more bees with honey. Maybe whoever it is can be worked with directly...

And your welcome, Disgruntled Neighbor. (I'm glad I don't live next door to that)

Things are somewhat better, but also worse with this property. The disgusting neighbor hasn't lived there for over a year, so that is good. The county now owns it, but the lawn is over grown and they are still pretending like the house is inhabitable and trying to sell at auction. Though they cleaned out 60 yards of trash from the house and yard, that doesn't change the fact that animals have crawled up inside the house and urinated, defected and/or died, along with it not being structurally sound! Besides owing back taxes, the smell and mold inside the home are reasons the last guy left. Pretty bad for someone who isn't very smart or clean. The house really just needs to be razed. I'm not sure why the county is so insistent to hold onto this home and sell at such a high cost? Two other houses (NOT meth houses) on this street have have been in better condition, but taken down. We also know of other people around town who bought property for super cheap (less than $2,000) even though the city/county insisted on tearing down the house (even though buyer wanted to keep it) and remove trees. All very high cost work!!

Hi readers. This is the County Treasurer Eric Schertzing. I do try to keep up on SeeClickFix but I rely upon direct contact mostly. We can all agree this house has been a challenge. The contact I have had directly about this home was from a neighbor interested in buying and fixing up.

The reason for changes over time on what might be demolished versus what is offered for sale at auction is money. The County and City have exhausted the $6,000,000 in demolition funding that took down 367 homes in Lansing. Demolition dollars are scarce.

The other major change in 2018 was a vastly improved market for properties. They sold at auction, sold for more money and were mainly fixed up. Unfortunately not every property is fixed as swiftly. We will have to see what happens at auction with this property on July 30th. I always welcome buyer comments. That is part of the process we are going through. This is part of the process of the auction.

If you have more specific question my desk phone is 676.7233. County email is eschertzing@ingham.org - please send with high priority. And my cell phone is 303.7233.

This content is currently blocked. The content is either under review by SeeClickFix or has been confirmed by SeeClickFix for violation(s) of SeeClickFix Terms of Use (https://www.civicplus.com/terms-of-service). Content that aligns with SeeClickFix Terms of Use will be posted, and content that does not align with our Terms of Use will not be permitted for public viewing.

I see somebody didn't like what I had to say the last time, so they rejected my post.

Though the initial complaint is not exactly the same, and neither is the owner, as long as this structure is still standing and not being updated or taken care of, I will continue to take issue with it! I will not close this post until something positive is done! It's already been open for about 4 years.

Just happy we haven't noticed any other people "living" in it since we had to call the police back in January!