My story today took me into North Braddock with the Housing Code Enforcement Officer. There are some 300 homes which need to be torn down.
The officer took photographer T.J. and me to see what he has to deal with everyday.
The officer cites the owners but nothing is done because the owners won’t pay to have them torn down and the boro has no money to pay. He took us to a few examples. Not only do they look bad…. they’re dangerous for the other neighbors. Some of them are ready to fall down at any time. You should see the inside of the homes! We’ll show you that in tonight’s story.
The officer also told us that about 20 percent of the 300 homes are bought off the internet. Some for under a thousand dollars. “Investors” who live out of state think they’re getting a good investment. But they see a photo of the home taken ten or twenty years ago and when they are cited to clean it up….. they’re surprised and just walk away and leave the boro with the mess.
See my story tonight on Action News at 6:15.
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