Renters ruining a nice neighborhood

[Ethan Bennett]

I purchased my home in 2006 because its in a quiet dead end cul de sac. The past 2 years a few of the homes around me have gone up for rent and brought in "interesting" people.

Unfortunately the people next door to me lost their home in foreclosure and now it's being rented out. The first set of renters never cut the grass and let the bushes/trees grow through my fence, which I paid to have replaced(not due to the growth recently).

When I mentioned the problems to the neighbor he said "ok, we'll just get a lawn service to call me".

They have moved out a week ago and now others are starting to view the property. I took a look at the real estates selection of homes and they are all lower income homes. Most rent on them is $500-$700 a month.

I also brought the problems to the attention of the real estate company and was told "we have over 700 properties, it will take some time to address these issues". That was almost 1 1/2 years ago.

As you can see I have been very patient with the situation, but now after paying a lot of money for the fence repairs I'm leery.

I don't want to go the court route. What else can be done to remedy the problems?

[Al Williamson]

Ethan Bennett congratulations for assuming a leadership role for your block. Your advocacy is ABSOLUTELY needed to arrest the neighborhood decline cycle.

Stay engaged, follow it through, your effort is will keep petty crime away and repel even worse elements from taking root. Stay with it!