SPOKANE, Wash. - If you are fed up with a rundown, boarded-up home in your neighborhood, help could be on the way.
KREM's 2 On Your Side learned that Spokane's Code Enforcement division just got money to add another officer.
It is a move many hope could bring improvement to some neighborhoods.
A recent study found that there are currently hundreds of properties around town abandoned, boarded up, and falling apart. Many worry because those abandoned homes bring down property values.
"You got something that's really nice right next to you and then you look across the street and there's someone who doesn't take any pride in it at all," said Spokane homeowner Ryan Miller.
Miller said he cannot even take a simple stroll without being reminded of the blight that's tarnishing his neighborhood.
"When you're driving through neighborhoods like this, with houses that are boarded up, it looks like a ramshakle," Miller explained. "It doesn't look very attractive."
Bullet holes, bits of trash, and even a beat up American flag could be seen on one home in Miller's neighborhood. Miller said the home has been that way for the past several years.
However, it is something that has not gone unnoticed. As Spokane's city leaders gets revved-up for another year, KREM's 2 On Your Side discovered that there is money in the budget to hire another code enforcement officer.
That hire comes after a series of public complaints over abandoned and dilapidated homes in Spokane.
In August, Spokane leaders planned to start a program that would require banks and realtors to register foreclosed homes with the City. The idea was that those people would be held accountable if homes fell into disarray.
After KREM aired that story in August, many people wanted the City to investigate rundown homes in their neighborhood. The only problem though was that those homes were not foreclosed upon and did not qualify.
When the number of complaints reached a breaking point, the City decided expand code enforcement, all with the goal of reducing beat-up homes in Spokane's neighborhoods.
"We want to nip those in the bud up front, if we can," said Spokane City Council member Amber Waldref.
As part of the program, code enforcement officers would work with homeowners to clean up their properties in a certain amount of time. If no action is taken by that homeowner, they would face a hefty fine. City leaders expect the newest code enforcement officer to be on board by the Spring.
"It would make homeowners and even rental agencies take better care of these properties and keep up on them," Waldref explained.
The City does already have programs throughout Spokane to help people clean up their homes. However, those programs are for the elderly and those who cannot afford to clean up their homes on their own.
This latest move is intended to target the people who knowingly can clean up their homes, but refuse to do so.
