Foreclosure frustration

Galt urges residents to help fight blight

Snap photos. Jot down addresses. Call your city code enforcement officers.

That was the advice last night from Galt city officials for how residents can help combat the weed-choked lawns, broken windows and other foreclosure-related blight popping up locally.

And if it doesn't work: "Get out your lawnmowers and start cutting," said City Councilman Tim Raboy.

Foreclosure numbers in Galt don't touch those in Elk Grove or Stockton. But abandoned homes are increasingly a part of the small community's landscape, worrying officials and city residents alike.

"It's getting to be a mess ... something needs to be done because Galt is not looking pretty right now," Galt resident Al Baldwin told city leaders, speaking at last night's City Council meeting.

"I don't want to get anybody in trouble, but I don't want the city to look like a garbage dump either," added Baldwin, a regular at council meetings, noting one west side neighborhood has five abandoned homes on the same block.

It's not clear how many homes are in foreclosure in Galt. A search of several real estate Web sites, including www.foreclosurelistings.com, shows there are more than 100 properties either in foreclosure or in its early stages.

The number of California homes going into foreclosure jumped last quarter to its highest level in more than 15 years, according to DataQuick, the La Jolla-based real estate information provider.

More than 113,000 default notices were sent to homeowners from January through March, up 39.4 percent from the previous three months, according to the company.

Along with urging residents to contact them — or take matters into their own hands, as Raboy and Mayor Andrew Meredith suggested — Galt leaders are beefing up the city's vacant building ordinance.

The revised rules will do the following:

• Require owners to begin correcting any blight in 30 days instead of 60 days once a city violation notice is mailed.

• Assess a city fee for monitoring vacant buildings monthly instead of annually.

• Set new standards for boarding-up an abandoned home. The city will inspect everything from the type of wood used to cover windows to the thickness of that wood.

The new rules, which have gained unanimous council support, still need a final vote June 3, said Assistant City Manager Jason Behrmann.

They will go into effect 30 days after that vote.

LeeAnn McFaddin, a Galt real estate agent and city planning commissioner, said foreclosed homes have been a nuisance for months in the city.

She noted Galt can't solve the issue on its own.

California Senate Bill 1137 might help.

It would allow local jurisdictions to levy fines of $1,000 per day on banks that don't maintain foreclosed homes.

"That's the big problem," said McFaddin, who works for Mike Guttridge Realty. "That's the reason for these ordinances. It's to get the banks off the dime."

The state Senate has approved the bill. The Assembly has not yet voted on it.

In the meantime, City Manager Ted Anderson said Galt code enforcement officers will handle blight-related violations. Raboy and Meredith, however, said residents should take matters into their own hands and clean up neighboring eyesores, especially overgrown weeds.

That might be the only way to solve the problem in a timely fashion, they noted.

Galt Police Chief Loren Cattolico said he's seen only "a few" foreclosure-related crimes in recent months. Most have involved trespassing, sometimes with teenagers throwing parties in abandoned homes.

To report blighted properties, contact the Galt Code Enforcement office at (209) 366-7200.

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.

This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. May 29, 2008, to correct the phone number of the Galt Code Enforcement office.