GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga.,None — The growing number of abandoned houses in Gwinnett County is posing a serious challenge to code enforcement officers.
And residents say they are fed up with blighted homes destroying their communities.
Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh went to Gwinnett County where officers say doing their job now takes more time than ever before.
Neighbors in the Fairfield Farm subdivision in unincorporated Snellville emailed Kavanaugh about an abandoned home on Litchfield Road.
Code enforcement officers said homes like the one on Litchfield Road are all over the county, and they're having a tough time keeping up.
"It's like a jungle, and I'm afraid of snakes," said neighbor Barbara Fuller.
But the overgrown grass isn't all that has her worried.
She said the home is driving down property values and stirring up trouble.
Neighbors say the family abandoned the home in April. Since then, people have busted in the doors, punched out the walls and scattered debris.
Despite several calls to code enforcement, things have gone from bad to worse.
"They are short-staffed and overwhelmed," Fuller said.
"With the economy being the way it is, I think this is only going to increase," said Lt. David Spell with the Gwinnett County Quality of Life unit.
Spell wasn't prepared to talk about the home on Litchfield Road.
But, he said, abandoned and foreclosed properties pose a new challenge to code enforcement.
He said they began tracking cases involving abandoned and foreclosed homes and homes with evictions. They're now 30 percent of their case load.
"In many cases we've sent letters, we've made phone calls. And when you're dealing with a mortgage company out of state, it only intensifies the challenge," Spell said.
He would not say the homes are overwhelming his unit. But he did say each of the 19 code enforcement officers and five sworn officers are juggling between 80 and 100 cases each.
If they can track someone down, they can only write a citation.
"We have no authority to board up houses or do anything like that," he said.
Fuller has tried to track down the mortgage lender.
"I want the bank to take charge and come out here clean it up and make it safe," she told Kavanaugh.
But she hasn't had much luck.
Kavanaugh also tried to get answers from the mortgage lender, Citifinancial Mortgage. On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson told her they were looking into the property. Kavanaugh has not heard back from them yet.
WSBTV
