TRAVERSE CITY -- The sun beats on a yard of weeds and sand at 135 Bluejay Road in East Bay Township.
Towering sugar maples once shaded the corner lot, but those were cut and sold. The house was stripped of its aluminum siding; copper plumbing and wiring were yanked out, too.
Neighbors in this Grand Traverse County community helplessly watched as the owners, who faced foreclosure, stripped, sliced and sawed to create an island of desolation in a close-knit neighborhood of modest, but well-tended homes.
"They were literally tearing the house down, stripping it of any value before their six-month redemption period was over," neighbor Dan White said. "We couldn't even get a hold of somebody who cared because (the mortgage) had changed hands so many times."
For months, northern Michigan fended off a foreclosure storm that swept the country, but properties such as the one at 135 Bluejay Road prove the area is not immune. Foreclosure notices are commonplace in the newspaper, and neighbors cringe as surrounding properties moulder and further undermine their own investments.
Bluejay Road neighbors discovered there was little they could do as trees, siding and other valuables disappeared. They called the township, police, banks, and county prosecutor, to no avail.
"The problem was the (lender) wasn't interested in pursuing criminal charges," Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider said. "It might qualify as common law mortgage fraud, but it has to be on the complaint of the bank, not some third party."
East Bay Township had no authority to intervene, Supervisor Glen Lile said.
"I was shocked when I saw it, but there's nothing the township can do," he said. "I think it's a problem every township faces."
Not unusual
The property at 135 Bluejay may be among the worst Robert Murray has seen, but it's not all that unusual, said Murray, a real estate agent from Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors in Kalkaska.
Foreclosure activity in May was the third-highest month on record and marked the third straight month that nationwide foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000, said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac.
The company tracks and markets foreclosed properties and has 146 listings on its Web site for Grand Traverse County.
Michigan ranked sixth in the nation for foreclosure filings in May.
Grand Traverse County is on pace for another record year, with 204 properties going to sheriff's auction by June 26, a nearly 350 percent increase over 2005.
"It used to be adjustable rate mortgages, but now I think a lot of people are just walking from them because they can't sell them, they have lost some income, and they just want to get out from under it," said Peggy Haines, register of deeds for Grand Traverse County.
Murray said more than half of foreclosed properties come with problems. Pipes and toilets burst from freezing and piles of trash are the most common issues. About 10 percent have been vandalized.
"I just got another house that's almost as bad," Murray said. "The people must have left 100 cubic yards of trash and garbage. It's just a mess."
Trash left outside abandoned properties accounts for numerous complaints, area township supervisors said.
At one foreclosed house, former owners left everything they had in the front yard, while at another it appeared the occupants tossed garbage on the yard all winter, said Paul Biondo, Green Lake Township supervisor.
Blair Township Supervisor Pat Pahl has seen much the same thing: possessions strewn about yards, and in one incident, the occupants moved out and left their dog locked in the house.
"I'm sure it's just going to get worse," Pahl said.
Before the housing market collapse, Biondo typically called the bank that owned the property, and they'd generally clean the site. These days, banks sometimes don't even know they own the property, he said.
"There are so many foreclosures now, the banks just aren't on top of it the way they used to be," Biondo said.
Biondo has been known to take blight matters into his own hands, though he doesn't have the authority or financial resources to clean up every mess.
When neighbors complain about a trash-strewn nearby property, he explains the situation, encourages them to tackle the project themselves, and frequently offers to pitch in.
The township had a dumpster available from another project, so Biondo, his son, and a library worker hauled a trailer to the site and cleaned it up.
"When it comes to raw garbage, I'm not apt to leave it," Biondo said.
Green Lake Township doesn't have the financial resources or authority to regularly clean up abandoned properties, Biondo said. So officials are working with their attorney to draft ordinances to add cleanup costs to tax bills.
'Absolutely maddening'
Neighbors on Bluejay Road who struck out with law enforcement and township officials eventually tracked down a representative of the bank that foreclosed on the house.
The property had been owned by Denise Hitzeman, and the bank foreclosed at sheriff's auction on Nov. 5, 2008. Hitzeman had six months, until May 6, to come up with about $60,000 to reverse the foreclosure.
Banks won't enter the property until the six month redemption period expires.
"It was absolutely maddening, knowing what they were doing was wrong," White said of the ex-owners' house- and lot-gutting. "Our jaws just dropped, knowing nobody could do anything."
The stripping of wiring and other valuables finally stopped when White, Dave Goodwin and two other neighbors confronted Mark Hitzeman as he pulled aluminum siding off the house.
Some neighbors were irate and harsh words were exchanged, Goodwin said, but they stayed off Hitzeman's property.
Mark Hitzeman stopped removing aluminum siding after the conversation, packed up and left, Goodwin said. One side of the house remains partially sided.
Phone numbers listed for the Hitzemans at a Kingsley residence were not in service.
"It's just real frustrating," Goodwin said, "but everyone is really happy they are finally gone."
The abandoned house remained, and neighborhood property values fell, according to township assessment records.
Sherri Hilden lives next door to 135 Bluejay and owns a rental home across the street. She and her husband wanted to sell the rental, but backed off.
"Who would want to live across from that; it's ugly and a scary thing for the rest of the neighborhood," Hilden said.
The last thing Kevin Paveglio expected to see was a stripped, abandoned house when he moved into the neighborhood in spring 2008.
"It's just an eyesore," Paveglio said from his front porch as he pointed across the street at the wrecked home. "Property values aren't the greatest right now and that thing doesn't help."
Murray, the real estate agent, was hired by REO World, a California-based asset management company for JP Morgan Chase & Co, to clean the property and sell it. Murray said the furnace, electrical outlets, walls and doors were kicked in and the roof leaks.
Trash was piled about the site, but before Murray could discard it he needed a court to grant a personal property eviction, adding a couple more months to the process.
Bluejay Road neighbors recently were relieved to learn area builder Kevin Ellis purchased the property for $32,000.
Ellis said he'll take about 10 weeks to completely gut, refurbish, and put the house back on the market.
He'd rather build new houses, but he's able to keep his crews busy doing fix-ups on foreclosed homes.
"Unfortunately, it's a sad situation, not only for the folks who have lost the homes, but the neighbors, too," Ellis said. "But there is a certain satisfaction in this project. Not only does someone get a brand new house, but it will improve the neighborhood and keep it from deteriorating any further."
