“Cape Coral – Big banks are taking over foreclosed homes but in some cases they’re not taking care of them like they’re required.
And you’re footing the bill.
“Board-ups is something that we’ve not traditionally done in the code enforcement realm,” said Mike VanDeutekom with Cape Coral Code Enforcement.
Boarding up pools isn’t exactly what VanDeutekom signed up for. A code enforcement officer for five-and-a-half years, he used to worry about housing construction violations.
Now he’s cleaning up the mess left behind by the foreclosure crisis.
“It’s the bank’s responsibility to maintain and register that property,” said VanDeutekom, who helped board up an abandoned pool at a foreclosed home Fox 4 brought to their attention.
When the bank fails to maintain foreclosed homes, the city steps in. In this case, Nationstar Mortgage failed to board up the pool and the city declared it an emergency.
Fixing foreclosed homes is something relatively new for code enforcement. And it’s taking away man power.”