Nuisance Abatement Provides Valuable Training for Southern California Firefighters

Controlled practice burns are good for both the neighborhood and for firefighters, and these particular properties were found by a court to meet the criteria for demolition. This unique approach fits when a variety of factors exist: the nuisance property is not physically and financially salvageable; the nuisance conditions will not jeopardize the safety of firefighters or neighboring properties; and environmental and weather conditions will not spread the fire beyond a controlled area.

Court Appointed Receivership Proves to be a Solution to Tackling Lawless Mobile Home Park

A menace to the local community, this 52-unit mobile home park was left to rot by those who were legally responsible for it, including its owner and the lenders who financed it. Years passed where the park existed in anarchy, with no one in place to ensure it was operating in compliance with local and state health and safety laws. During this time the park subsisted under perilous conditions, which endangered the lives of residents and the surrounding community. The onsite violations of health and safety codes were so severe that the park lost its operating permit, yet occupants continued to live in unsafe, dangerous and unregistered units onsite, in violation of multiple laws.

Receivership is Used to Address Home with Unpermitted Construction

CRG was appointed to abate the nuisance conditions at this single-family home after multiple instances of unpermitted construction were discovered along with other dangerous conditions so severe that the municipality issued a red-tag for the property. Yet, the owner and their associates ignored the red-tag and continued to reside in the property, using a generator and unsafe electrical wiring to get power inside.

Making a Hoarder House a Home Again

Given its location in a college town, we were surprised to find that this property had extreme hoarder conditions. Items were strewn about in piles that in some cases touched the ceiling. Every available surface was utilized and even the rats had died. The house appeared to have been deserted and there were signs that squatters had broken in and resided inside. The accumulation of debris was a significant fire hazard in addition to the degradation of the structure from lack of maintenance. We were able to completely rehabilitate this property, clean it out and fix the violations of state and municipal health and safety codes.

Finding a Future for a Neglected Home with a Low Property Value

Prior to our appointment, this single-family home was left littered with accumulated trash and debris. There was significant damage to the roof, floors, walls, and ceilings, and it was not safe to be inside. The lack of maintenance of the property made it a haven for squatters and the home was the target of repeated break-ins. With very low marketable value, it was a challenge to find the most economical path to correcting the state and municipal health and safety code violations onsite.

Historic Property in a Dangerous State of Disrepair Plagues its Surrounding Community

As a result of poor maintenance and unlawful home renovations, where a beautiful American Craftsman style home had stood for decades, we were appointed as the Receiver of this property as it had fallen into significant disrepair. Broken, littered with trash, and the exterior space housing illegal trailers, the home was a sore point within its quiet, charming neighborhood. Constructed in 1913, one of the first homes built in the town, the degradation of the property was especially apparent given its location next door to the city’s historical society.

From Neighborhood Cancer to Community Asset: Turning an Apartment Building Around

We took over this 14-unit apartment building after poor management rendered it unsafe for tenants to live in and it had become an attractive nuisance to local criminals. Municipal code enforcement found 84 violations of health and safety laws onsite, including broken stairs and doors, an exterior littered with graffiti and trash, inoperable plumbing, as well as apartments without working electricity. Despite the fact that vulnerable young children, as well as elderly tenants, lived inside the apartments, and even with multiple opportunities to fix the issues plaguing the property, the owner refused to cooperate. The lack of oversight of the apartment building did not go unnoticed; gang activity became prevalent, with heavy drug usage onsite.

Vacant, Run-down Property is Rehabilitated Through a Health and Safety Receivership

This abandoned house was in very poor condition when we were appointed. Not only was there an accumulation of junk and debris, faulty electrical wiring and inadequate plumbing, but the roof was also severely damaged and there was an extensive leak. The exposed roof, combined with the lack of ceiling and wall insulation in parts of the structure, meant that it was riddled with mold and dry rot, which also compromised the structural integrity of the building and it was at risk of collapse.

Ramshackle Motel Becomes Days Inn by Wyndham Microtel

Fire Hazard, Relocation Assistance, Structural Issues, CrimeMark AdamsJanuary 14, 2020Hotel or Motel, Commercial Property

An Abandoned Construction Site Becomes a Family Home

A Superior Court Judge appointed us to remove the dangerous conditions at this abandoned construction site that housed the frame of what could be a single-family residence. Yet, the owner deserted the property and the structure sat open to the elements, as well as vagrants who took to squatting inside. Having an unsecured construction site lay dormant indefinitely presents a significant hazard to the public and we needed to find a viable solution to ensure its safety in both the long and short run.

Historic Hotel in the Heart of a City is Closed for Business for 20+ Years

Built at the turn of the 20th century, this elegant 3-story hotel is on both the California and National Register of Historic Places. Once a hub for the community, the site of weddings, school proms, and the center of political gossip in the municipality, sadly this hotel has sat vacant and in various states of disrepair for over two decades.

Decaying Property is Demolished Through a Health and Safety Receivership

When we were appointed to address the nuisance conditions at this property, we found that it had suffered extensive fire damage and was severely deteriorated. Structurally unsound, it had gaping holes in the floors, walls, and roof. The structural failure extended to the foundation and the building was partially collapsing in places, rendering it extremely hazardous to be onsite and unfit for habitation. Additionally, there was insufficient plumbing and no running water onsite. Piles of trash and debris were littered through the interior and exterior of the property. These included containers of decaying matter, clothing and used rags, sofas, mattresses, a boat, and a jet ski, as well as inoperable vehicles.

Fulfilling a 101-year-old Woman's Final Wish

Neighbors complained consistently about this dilapidated nuisance property to local authorities in the fifteen years preceding California Receivership Group’s appointment as receiver by a Superior Court Judge under the California Health and Safety Code. Indeed, when it was inspected by municipal code enforcement, they found it to be extremely dilapidated, structurally unsound, filled with debris, and unsanitary due to repeated trespassing and vandalism. In total, there were 120 ongoing and dangerous violations of state and local health and safety laws. Remodeling this property was not simple, as it was in such bad shape that we needed to restore nearly every part and system in the house. After the renovation, this home is almost unrecognizable from the degraded state it was in before.

Health and Safety Receivership Gets Over Two Decades of Languishing Construction Completed

What was intended to be an elegant home, sat as an unfinished construction site for over two decades. Work that had been started in the 1990s was nowhere near completion in 2018 when we arrived onsite following our appointment by the Superior Court. Significant problems included the unsafe storage of building materials, with some stacks over five feet in height, visible from the exterior and stacked against a neighboring property. Alarmingly, inside the house, overhead open beams were used to store large building materials. Further problems were the unfinished electrical work and an unfinished staircase, which was in use, as well as numerous exposed door frames, and visible signs of water damage across the two stories due to a leak.

Little Value, but a Big Community Issue: Remediating a Blighted, Low-value Motel and Family Home

When the street on which this property is located saw dwindling visitors following the construction of Interstate 5, many businesses in the area closed their doors, abandoning the buildings that housed them. With a building use that has low demand, a property can devolve into nuisance conditions, as happened in this case. See how CRG is making changes through health and safety receivership.

Despite Tragic Past, Property Becomes a Successful Local Business

Although this property was the subject of municipal health and safety code enforcement efforts, the owners were uncooperative with officials and failed to remedy the violations of local and state laws. Years passed and the house languished in a dilapidated state until it was sadly engulfed by an electrical fire. Unfortunately, a friend of the owner was living in the attic at the time and tragically suffocated in the fire.

A Blighted Property is Unrecognizable After a Health and Safety Receivership

Fire damaged, structurally unsound and at risk of collapsing, this property was in very poor condition when we were appointed as the Receiver and it was dangerous to be onsite. The structure was full of trash, infested with pests, lacking electricity, heating, and running water. We have been able to completely remodel the structure and abate the numerous violations of municipal and state health and safety codes on the property.

Extreme Hoarding and Health and Safety Receivership

This single-family home suffered from extreme hoarding and associated health and safety issues as the owner and occupants struggled to maintain it with the huge surplus of items crowding the space. From the outside, items were visible throughout the front yard and on the front porch. The back yard was completely inaccessible due to the accumulation of scrap metal, junk, and an inoperable RV.

CRG Works to Determine the Abatement Strategy for a Neighborhood Nuisance

With structural deficiencies including holes in the floors, walls, and ceilings, this building was dangerous to enter. Yet, broken windows, overgrown landscaping, and an accumulation of junk and debris visible from the street made it an attractive nuisance and it was continuously broken into, adding further problems for people living in the surrounding community. After seven years of code enforcement attempts to get the owner to address the conditions were unsuccessful, CRG was appointed by the superior court to takeover the property and create an abatement plan.

From Fire Hazard to Affordable Housing Through Receivership

This project involved a property with two separate single-family homes on a large parcel of land. At the time of our appointment, both structures suffered from numerous health and safety code violations. There was extreme hoarding on-site as well as severely unsafe electrical wiring, endangering not only this property and its occupants, but neighboring properties as well. Piles of items blocked doorways and walkways, sometimes reaching the ceiling. Nearly every room had ropes and electrical wires pulled across them, creating walking hazards as well as further illustrating the pervasive fire risk.