INDIANAPOLIS — It's been more than six weeks and an East side neighborhood says there are still having issues with a vacant home.
WRTV spoke with neighbors back in May who werehoping to get results.
"Help! Just help us. Help us find a resolution for this," said Kristin Calvert.
Residents in the Christian Park neighborhood say a person experiencing homelessness has moved into a vacant home and is leaving behind trash, rodents, and damage.
"Oh, it's beyond a level. You could at least see the ground before, now you cannot," said Calvert.
"I’m in shock myself. 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," said Calvert.
A month and a half later and more complaints to the city, neighbors said they are still living a nightmare.
In May, WRTV’s Amber Grigley learned that the Department of Business and Neighborhood services had issued multiple vacant board orders since November 2022.
Crews were using different materials and larger bolts to secure the home. The city also put an open repair order on the property.
On Tuesday, those boards have been removed, and the home is worse than it was in May.
"Defeated. I feel like I’m just lost. Really, what is there to do? I've done absolutely everything in my power that I could possibly do," said Calvert.
Amber reached back out to the city Tuesday who said:
"The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services is committed to continuing its compliance inspections at 3833 Fletcher Avenue and is issuing compounding penalties in accordance with the schedule set by local code and state law. Most recently, the Department opened a trash violation and vacant board order there on June 23. Around that same time, the Department forwarded a $650 penalty to the treasurer as a lien on the property for its unaddressed repair orders. Looking forward, a compliance inspector is scheduled to review the property tomorrow. If they find it hasn’t been brought into compliance, the trash and unsafe building issues will be sent to our vendors for cleanup and priority boarding—which would result in a higher penalty. Residents are encouraged to continue to report issues related to trash and unsafe buildings to RequestIndy and the Mayor’s Action Center."
- Kurt Christian, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Indianapolis Department of Business & Neighborhood Services/Animal Care Services
Property records show a company called "PQT Renovations" is the current owner of the home.
"I really thought it was a joke it was kind of like a slap in the face. Like oh, here let's shut her up for a second. I mean honestly, that's what I felt like it was. I've kept quiet since the auction I’ve kept quiet, I’ve let this go but this smell I mean this is ridiculous," said Calvert.
Calvert said she feels like her complaints are falling on deaf ears and there's no way to get this resolved and get their lives back to normal.
"The city, they come in tag cars for being on the street I mean they're on top of that this is at home a perfectly good home that has been destroyed and there are things that can be done, and they're not being done that's where the anger comes from," said Calvert.
The city said a compliance inspector is scheduled to review the property Wednesday. If it's not cleaned up, the city could send in a crew to handle it, which would lead to higher penalties.
