Neighbors Worried, Scared Over Abandoned Home

ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman is so frustrated about an eyesore next to her home that she wants to move out of her house.

Sadie Gray lives next to an abandoned home on Hadlock Street, in southwest Atlanta.

Gray spoke to Channel 2's Eric Philips and told him she doesn't even want to come out of the house at night because of the mess

"You work hard and pay for something that you can have to enjoy in your old age and then you gotta look at this, it's terrible," Gray said.

Gray has lived in her Hadlock Street home for 37 years.

"I'm just so upset that if I had a chance to move, I would move today," Gray told Philips.

Next to her neatly manicured yard lies the abandoned home which has created an eyesore for the last two years. A few weeks ago it got even worse when someone kicked in the door.

"I'm just afraid that rats, roaches and snakes, cats, dogs and people gone come running out that door at me," Gray said. "Crack addicts, dope heads, that's what I'm afraid of."

Gray said she has called the city several times but officials told her they're busy locating the owner so they can be cited. Meanwhile, the only action she's seen at the home is the placement of yellow warning signs from code enforcement, the latest one posted on Monday.

Philips did an internet search and found the last listed owner foreclosed on the home two years ago. Gray said the property has been downhill ever since.

"I would love to see that house torn down, if you wanna know the truth," Gray said.

Officials at Atlanta's Office of Code Enforcement told Philips they are trying to confirm who owns the home but that they might send someone out to as soon as Monday to survey the property.

WSBTV