They can be seen by all who travel to cities large and small around the country. They may be boarded up, have a “Condemned” sign in the yard or just generally look neglected and dilapidated. They are the scourge of neighborhoods and the bane of city officials.

Neighbors may demand immediate action, but there’s a process to cleaning up what has become known as “blight”: neglected homes that are badly in need of repair or that should be demolished. Removing these homes from the landscape is hardly simple.

“We have to make sure that we follow legal procedure and give proper notice to property owners,” explained Edgar Orozco, zoning enforcement supervisor for the city of Laredo, Texas. For one thing, a minimum of 30 days notice is required to alert property owners that the city is about to take action.

This municipality of a quarter million residents sits on the north bank of the Rio Grande and is the largest inland port on the Mexican-United States border. For these reasons and others, finding an owner is daunting at times, said Orozco.

“We check the property database to see who owns the property, but the owner may be deceased. Then we have to find the heirs, and sometimes there’s a family disagreement about the property. It can be complicated.” Once a property is declared substandard or abandoned by the city inspector, the property is tagged with a sign indicating that it is a hazard to the public.

Not only are dilapidated and neglected residences considered hazardous, but Orozco said that they also can be a cover for illegal activity and a drain on city resources.

According to the Urban Institute, a 2014 study in Pittsburgh, Pa., found that a house that has been abandoned for a year costs the city approximately $14,000 in crime including injury to victims, criminal justice proceedings and decreased productivity by the people involved. Such properties also pose a fire risk that can cost the municipality money, and potentially the neighbors as well.

While these costs vary by city and region, they include direct property maintenance such as cutting grass, removing trash and eventually boarding up the structure. In addition to the potential police and fire costs, there are code enforcement program costs and lost property tax revenue.

In Laredo, owners or heirs are invited to a meeting of the Substandard Housing Board, a six-member panel of city residents appointed by Laredo’s mayor. During the meeting, the board and owners discuss the best option for the property.

“Maybe it can be fixed up or maybe it has to be demolished,” Orozco said. “Most get demolished.”

The city then puts out requests for bids for the demolition. Contracts are always awarded to the lowest bidder, he noted. Demolition in south Texas can be anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for a 1,400-square-foot house: The total varies based on whether there is hazardous material in the structure such as asbestos, and whether there is a concrete foundation. The cost includes the removal of the debris to an appropriate dump site.

Orozco said that there have been years when the Army National Guard has sent demolition crews to Laredo as part of the annual training of Army engineers. “We would give them a list of maybe 19 houses, and they would do the demolition free of charge.”

After demolition, the city places a lien on the property to reclaim the cost of the teardown and any unpaid taxes. “We have to recover the money we’ve put into it,” Orozco said. The entire process can take years to complete.

Further north in Goshen, Ind., such properties pose the same problems, but Building Commissioner Myron Grise said that because of a serious housing shortage, the city is trying to salvage as many as possible.

“The onesies and twosies – single residences that can’t be salvaged – have to be demolished. But we have landlords who can’t keep up with the number of properties they own. Those landlords are getting older, and they have trouble finding people who can do the upkeep and maintenance the properties need.”

In addition to the costs incurred by blighted properties, Grise said the work of enforcement takes time away from other work of the city’s building department.

Some of the properties are the victims of years of neglected maintenance. Some have been declining for as many as 20 to 30 years.

“Recently we’ve started pushing harder to get the properties into shape. We’re pushing owners to clean up, especially when there are raccoons and rats living there. It’s not good for the neighborhood,” Grise said.

The push to clean up dilapidated properties is driven in part by the housing shortage in Goshen, a city of about 35,000 just south of the Michigan border. The economy in the area is healthy, with the recreational vehicle industry employing a large sector of the population.

Having suitable safe housing is a part of the city’s mission, Grise noted. Because of that, owners are encouraged to clean up and fix up a property that is salvageable. “Of course, the owner has to consider the return on the investment.”

The city is also glad to keep houses on properties to benefit real estate tax collections. “Taxes will be lower on properties that are just a vacant lot.”

Grise is hopeful that recent property auctions will result in cleaned-up properties that will enhance the neighborhoods and help ease the housing shortage. “We give them a timeframe to get the work done. Unfortunately, we’re to a point with some properties that we’re going to have to tear them down.”

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