INDIANAPOLIS — Some relief is coming for those living near a home overrun by garbage and damage on Fletcher Avenue.
“Never give up. Keep fighting. The good guys sometimes win," Tim Hager said. "I am so thankful that you guys are out here again."
Since May, WRTV has been looking into this nightmare for residents living on Fletcher Avenue after a person experiencing homelessness moved in and destroyed it.
"I watch rats and mice run up and down the driveway from my porch,” said Hager.
Tuesday, we discovered the property is becoming a bigger issue than before.
"Before this, it had been a year. So, I thought after this it was going to be done, but no, I never thought it would be like this,” Kristin Calvert said.
Property records show a company called "PQT Renovations LLC" is the new owner of the home.
WRTV’s Amber Grigley asked owner Paige Tam, "How long ago did you purchase the property?"
Tam answered, "It was last month on the 16th."
On Wednesday, Amber was able to track down Tam. She met Amber at the property to explain.
Amber asked, "Did you know it came with all of the drama that is with it now?”
“I did not. If I knew, I would not have purchased it," Tam said.
Tam says before she purchased the property, she drove by and thought it was a decent home. She says she noticed cars in the driveway and thought it was occupied. She was waiting for the deed to begin the eviction process.
"I got my deed last week and I started the eviction process last Friday," Tam said.
But the call she received Wednesday morning from the health department quickly brought her up to speed. They advised her to check out our story.
"I pulled up the story and I was shaking. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to think. I was just shaking. Oh my god, my house. That's a lot of money to put in there and if it's destroyed, all my money is gone," Tam said.
A compliance inspector reviewed the property on Wednesday.
The city issued the following statement to WRTV:
Local ordinance informs and regulates how quickly the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services (DBNS) can address illegal dumping cases such as this.
In general, when DBNS is made aware of an illegal dumping/trash case, we issue a Notice of Violation that gives the property owner 10 days to address the issue or call us for an extension/free residential abatement. As soon as 14 days after that mailing, a compliance inspector will determine if the property is still in violation. If it is, we will have our vendors go on to the private property to perform a cleanup. Contractually, the Department's vendors must remove any amount of trash under four cubic yards of trash within 5 days and any amount of trash over four cubic yards within 10 days.
In the case of 3833 Fletcher Avenue, one complicating factor is that the property’s ownership changed on June 23, 2023. As a result, a new trash notice had to be issued to the new owners for the junk and debris. DBNS sent a vendor out today to address the trash in the alley in the meantime. If the new owner does not clean their property by July 22 and is unresponsive, we will engage our vendors to clean the private property according to the process I've described and bill the owner for the costs. If that bill isn't paid within 30 days, we will begin the process of assigning it as a lien to the property.
"It's a big blessing because it's been terrible. I'm so thankful we finally have somebody. I kept being told that the police can't do anything with him because we don't have a homeowner to file charges. We don't have a no trespassing against him. So, this has gone on and on and on. Officers told me that, the city has told me that, and now we do have a homeowner so there are no more excuses," Hager said.
Since the beginning, the city has encouraged residents to continue to report issues related to trash and unsafe buildings to RequestIndy and the Mayor's Action Center at 317-327-4622. Neighbors concerned about illegal activity on a property should contact IMPD.
