Zombie foreclosures: Richmond’s hidden housing crisis

Richmond has seen an increase in “zombie” foreclosures, meaning that the bank, upon foreclosing on the homeowner, never took ownership of the home. The practice allows banks to avoid liability. It also increases blight, and makes it difficult for the city to manage abandoned properties, which often turn into blighted eyesores.

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A neighborhood eyesore gets demolished in Richmond

Five years of abandonment left the house at 127 Chanslor Avenue in Richmond in terrible condition. It caught fire twice from squatters taking advantage of its neglect. (You can read Zach St. George’s previous story on the history of the property here.) As part of a plan to demolish such properties, Richmond’s Code Enforcement Department…

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Portrait of an empty house

127 Chanslor Avenue

A yellow cat runs up the steps of the house on 127 Chanslor Avenue, hopping over the weeds sprouting from the charred wood. It stops in the entryway and turns, shutting its eyes against the sun streaming down through the hole where the roof used to be. The house, on the corner of 2nd Street…

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“One Block at a Time” wins statewide award

The California Association of Code Enforcement Officers has awarded Richmond’s “One Block at a Time” project with the title of Innovative Code Enforcement Program of the Year. OBAT partners local residents with the Richmond Police Department’s Code Enforcement Unit to target neighborhood blight. The CACEO chose the initiative from a competitive pool of other code…

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