Call Kurtis: Do Banks Have To Maintain Foreclosed Homes?

CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) -- A neighborhood can make a big difference in the value of your home, and neighbors in a Citrus Heights residential community say they're feeling it firsthand.

Mattresses, paint cans and broken glass -- spread across the property at the corner of Sunrise Blvd and Twin Oaks -- and the neighbors said it's only getting worse.

"Just garbage," said Janette Rodriguez, a neighbor who said the debris has attracted scavengers and homeless.

"It's a cesspool," said Mary Harbaugh, another neighbor who passes the property every time she enters or leaves her neighborhood.

When calls about the messy foreclosed home in their neighborhood went unanswered, they decided to Call Kurtis.

Sacramento County Tax Assessor told CBS13 the property was acquired by Bank of New York Mellon in a foreclosure.

State law requires banks have to maintain homes they foreclose on, so what can a neighborhood do?

"You look next door and it's a garbage heap," said Victoria Thompson, who lives nextdoor and said she routinely picks up trash blown across her lawn.

When it rains, Rodriguez said the trash washes out into the intersection.

"This street floods and it floats out into Sunrise Boulevard," she said.

"I get angry that nothing has been done," neighbor Susan Jackson said.

Sacramento-based real estate attorney Greg Peterson said some banks can't keep track of all their foreclosures.

"This is obviously a public nuisance," he said.

Cities and counties can clean up the mess and bill the owner, but the law says they must send out warning notices first, at least 14 days in advance, unless the property is a threat to public health or safety.

"The law specifically gives the lenders the right to notice," Peterson said.

While Bank of New York Mellon is the legal owner of the property according to Sacramento County, BNY told CBS13 it is just a trustee and loan servicing company Ocwen Financial is responsible for maintenance.

"I'm just hoping they finally do something about it," Thompson said.

The City of Citrus Heights told CBS13 it gave the bank 18 days' notice to clean up the property, and it appears that worked.

The mess is gone.

"Just feel so relieved," Rodriguez said.