BANGOR, Maine — Many cities and towns have condemned properties that sometimes sit there for years. In Bangor, there are 100 of them.
Bangor Code Enforcement Director Jeff Wallace said a property is placarded when it's deemed no longer safe to be inhabited. Some of those condemned buildings are considered average, others serious, still more dangerous.
Wallace said the city owns none. Instead, most of them are owned by people or banks from out of state.
Wallace added that many of them are in "bank limbo," which keeps the taxes paid, but no repairs or improvements are being made. He said some of those properties have sat in that limbo for decades.
"They are placarded, deemed no longer safe to live in, again bank-owned. The bank is paying the taxes. So there is not a whole lot of action in those ones," Wallace said. "I would say all of them that are on that list are out-of-state banks. The local banks are much quicker in their response."
And while taxes are still being paid on the buildings, the dangers persist.
"The risks are squatters, people getting in there, fires starting some times, other dangers to people. The benefit would be if they could be moved, someone could get ahold of them, give them the love they need and get them livable again. That would be the best scenario," Wallace said.
A few months back, a fire broke out in one of the condemned properties on Union Street. Some people experiencing homelessness stayed inside the building, trying to keep warm. Three of them died.
After a lot of work, Wallace said the City of Bangor got permission from the bank out of Texas who manages that specific property to demolish it. Demolition is set to happen soon.
Wallace said the mechanism varies for the city to condemn property. It can be complaint-driven, after a fire, or when police find concerning activities.
Wallace added a few years ago that list had more than 200 properties, and it has been decreasing. Now there are 100 properties on the list.
"There was 150 on that list, so over the last couple of years, there's been a lot of movement by the banks to sell the property, move on through the foreclosure process, get them into the hands of people that would fix them up, and get them habitable," Wallace said.
Most of the properties are owned by out-of-state financial institutions, and a lot of times, it's challenging to get ahold of the property owner, according to Wallace. That's one of the reasons why some of the properties sit for years in a deteriorated state.
"There is only one way the city can take over, and that is for back taxes," Wallace said.
Wallace said lately, there have been calls to his department where Bangor citizens ask for the numbers for the bank registered in some of the condemned properties to call and ask themselves.
"And they've had some success that way," Wallace said.
Sgt. Wade Betters with the Bangor Police Department said another problem presented in some of these properties is they're used for drug trafficking.
"When we have trafficking taking place, that's something that we have to shut down. And most of the time, we get multiple calls from people saying there are people constantly coming and going from these places," Betters said.
Betters added it is not uncommon for people to seek shelter in these condemned properties, even if they are boarded up.
"It is not uncommon for us to find several people inside one of these buildings or evidence that several people come and go from it at their convenience," Betters said.
Betters added those who use some of the condemned properties are running a high danger risk.
"There is generally no plumbing, no heat, no electricity," he said.
Betters continued, "What we do is we respond to that building, we determine whether or not it's vacant, whether it's placarded, and whether it's dangerous to be inside. Most of the time, there is no heat or electricity. If we find a building that is insecure, that is supposed to be secured, we notify code enforcement. They come out and assess it, and we all work together with the public works department to resecure the building."
Tina and Steve McDonald live in Bangor and have two condemned properties within walking distance.
"It decreases the value of, not just our house, but every other house in the neighborhood when you have those in the neighborhood. And that's not fair to the hard-working people that are struggling to keep their property looking good," Tina McDonald said.
They said they are frustrated and have neighbors and friends who feel the same.
"They should hold either the banks or the owners accountable to fix the places up or tear them down," Steve McDonald said.
Rick Fournier is the Bangor City Council chair.
He said the need for affordable housing in Bangor is very high but knows that it's not easy to get the condemned properties converted over. He said the city council is working on the problem.
"We are reaching out to the mortgage holders of the abandoned properties and trying to get them to move on them so that either they are willing to sell them or figure out some sort of way to get them reoccupied," Fournier said.
Wallace said besides the list of condemned properties, he has another list of vacant properties.
Here is the list of codes for property maintenance for the City of Bangor.