Portland derelict houses: ‘Graffiti, drugs, crime, garbage’

Only 1 of 4 derelict houses sold at a Portland auction Monday

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — On a quiet dead-end street in Southeast Portland sits a run down house neighbors say has been vacant for well more than a decade.

This structure on Southeast Cooper is one of four derelict houses the City of Portland tried to sell in a Monday auction. The city took these houses — three in Southeast Portland and one in Northeast Portland — into foreclosure after years of trying to work with owners to get them up to code.

But the house on SE Cooper was the only house to sell at the auction. There were no bids on the other sites.

Ken Ray with the Portland Bureau of Development Services said the city tries to work with owners to get their vacant properties up to code.

“All property owners are required to maintain their properties to minimum standards to ensure the safety of their properties and to make sure their properties don’t become nuisances for their neighbors and the community at large,” Ray said. “As a last resort, when all other efforts to get property owner to comply have failed, we can pursue a foreclosure process to make sure that they are no longer a nuisance to the community.”

The city said the goal is to get properties into the hands of those ready, willing and able to make repairs or redevelop. This helps remove blight and stabilize neighborhoods.

The city’s criteria for foreclosure includes:

• Property must be vacant (not legally occupied) or a parcel of land;
• Repeated source of nuisance complaints and repeated, costly cleanup by city;
• Often a repeated source of criminal behavior or opportunity for fires and calls from police and fire;
• And/or a longstanding case with no movement and extremely high lien balances typically greater than $250K that make selling it by the owner difficult if not impossible.

Neighbors of the derelict house on SE Cooper expressed mixed emotions about the sale of their neighbor’s property. While it’s been frustrating to have the lot deteriorate, they say it hasn’t caused trouble like other nuisance properties in town.

They’re sad for the owner but also deeply concerned about what a developer would do to their tight-knit block of nearly century-old homes. One longtime neighbor said she doesn’t want to see a developer cram multiple tall, skinny homes on the lot.

Experience shows, though, a sale doesn’t necessarily lead to quick action.

Gail Norman, who lives on Northeast Fremont, said the derelict house on that street corner is more than an eyesore.

“It’s just a nuisance,” Norman told KOIN 6 News. “It’s only gone from bad to worse. So far nothing has been done with the property. It’s still there. People still pull up their RVs, cars. Graffiti, drugs, crime, garbage.”

The property is an open invitation for crime she said, so she locks her gates for her own safety after having several trespassers.

The property on Northeast Fremont sold at a foreclosure auction on October 17, 2022 for $147,746.00 to Wesley Mahler, according to the city. However, ownership may have changed since then; according to Portland Maps, the latest owner is listed as DOCA ASSETS LLC.

But Norman said that while she is hoping for improvement, she’s not holding her breath.

KOIN 6 did observe a foreclosure property improve: Two lots on NE Skidmore also sold at the October 2022 auction and is now serving a community daycare center.

“Notably, the improved condition of the Skidmore property really is the goal here,” said Carrie Belding, with the City of Portland’s Office of Management and Finance.

The City of Portland will try again to sell the other three derelict houses at their next auction.