WFAA-TV
The Lake Ridge community is plagued by vacant and even partially-burned homes.
DALLAS COUNTY -- Empty and even burned houses have become part of the landscape in the upscale neighborhood of Lake Ridge, spanning the cities of Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie in southwestern Dallas County.
But the two cities are now taking action against the blight brought by foreclosures in this community where some homes are priced at more than $1 million.
"I'm very concerned about that," said Grand Prairie Mayor Charles England. "Lake Ridge has been a showplace for us for the last several years."
Officials maintain that Lake Ridge is not in decline--they say it is healthy, with some small pockets of problems they're trying to fix.
But the message is mixed. Grand Prairie Mayor Charles England says one vacant house in the development may be being used by teens for parties. "I've heard that there's one in Grand Prairie that's being used that way, and I can assure you that we're watching real close," he said.
Since our original story on this subject, the City of Grand Prairie has notified the owners of vacant or abandoned property that they must mow their lawns and remove debris. But actually removing a partially-built house itself is a much longer process.
"If there's no actiivty after 180 days, we start procedures then to condemn the property," said Cedar Hill Mayor Ron Franke.
There's nothing a city can do to prevent foreclosures, or to prevent unsuccessful builders from starting homes they don't finish.
As for rising taxes in those neighborhoods, Mayor Franke says Lake Ridge homes are actually undevalued. "I'll be the first to admit mortgage faraud and foreclosurees are a significant issue that we have to deal with in the state and particularly as a region in Texas," he said. "But the Lake Ridge area has fundamentally good things going on."
Both mayors say they have confidence in Lake Ridge, calling it a neighborhood that is in transition.
The question for homeowners is how long that transition will take.
E-mail
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070501_wz_foreclosurefolo.28425594.html