Yes. Mow the yard, charge the owner. Bill appropriately.

The above suggestion has been going on all summer. When people walk from a property they seldom look back and that includes any liens for lawn upkeep from the city. I've known of properties in MI sitting vacant in other cities for 20-30 years. There are houses on Shiawassee and Genesse, both vacant for 8+ years. Eyesores, yes, but there they sit as-is. We need new ideas!

Seems the city should charge the bank or whomever the foreclosed is with. But key word is seems as you said there are so many and could take all day to know where One is at. We have a couple homes in our neighborhood that we know the story on and therefore neighbors take it upon themselves to mow and keep up appearances. Would be worth it to research where the house is at/who is responsible to contact or with ours as they are in probate,do ourselves to keep the neighborhood looking good. Just my 2 cents :)

here's an example. Have it done like...
https://en-us.seeclickfix.com/issues/1102293#new_comment

Wow, Mary Beth V that's a great attitude! Neighbors taking the responsibility to keep things up to their level of expectations rather than pointing fingers and pelting absent homeowners w blame. Like I said times have changed and people are desperate enough to walk away from their homes if they can't pay the note (of whatever type) Real estate turns quickly in our neighborhood as home buyers find themselves underwater on payments. They were so pleased w the idea of purchasing their own homes they didn't understand how far in debt they'd gone. Especially single men and ladies. How many times have I talked w young people who don't understand the first 20 years of house payments only go toward interest(they don't know of or have the extra $ to pay separately on principle) After 2-3 years of struggling it's easier to just walk away from a home once they realize paying on the debt is only the equivalent of paying rent. Debtors can dangle credit threats over their heads but they've moved on. The city can and will cut the lawn n bill by a lien indefinitely. After years the city may take over the property or a buyer shows up 10-15 years later and is willing to cover the lien as part of the sale...in the mean time that's years of calls n follow up for code compliance. Sometimes the property is a rental. The owner long ago reaped the $ from the original purchase. The property may be unfit to rent and not worth putting repair $ into. The owner abandons it w/out a care.Dunning letters to mow the lawn have no effect on them. I know of one landlord who didn't want to repair a home and just donated it to a church...it was only fit to be demolished. Since it can take years to find a new party willing to care for a property it seems we may have to protect the look of our neighborhoods w a little effort ourselves. Really what do we have to lose if we're committed to our own properties? It would be great if more neighbors pitched in to maintain their own neighborhoods!

On trash days ,there has been trash set out. That leads me to believe it was not really abandoned

Please see duplicate posting # 1108815. Vacant house has a "SOLD" sign on it today

Old carpet has been on the front grass for 2 months now with nothing moved

I'd hoped someone was moving into this house when the SOLD sign appeared in the window 2 months ago....now beginning to think the sign is a decoy of some type. Including this address there are 11 vacant houses w/in a 2 block radius of my house. When I read on Clickfix the abundance of minor issues being claimed as the cause for property devaluation, I think, "if they only knew/understood, current nationwide data shows the biggest cause is VACANT properties". My home is quite nice, but has NO value, that is, the best seller can't move my house because of the 11 visibly vacant/abandoned properties close by. Until those homes are filled we're all taking a hit on devaluation. Let's hope no one else is forced to leave the neighborhood.

Been posting this issue since end of July. Nothing done. Grass is higher, carpet still in front yard. How long before city takes care of this or will we wait until it is covered in snow?

finally cleaned