It is almost a weekly occurrence in Shreveport, and an expensive one at that. And just this week it has become a tragic one for a Shreveport couple. I am referring to the rash of fires in vacant houses in Shreveport's Highland neighborhood.
This week a fire in the 400 block of Columbia Street destroyed a vacant house. The fire also burned down the home of adjoining neighbors who are senior citizens and are now homeless. The fire also damaged a residence on the other side of the vacant home and caused damage to the neighbor's car.
During cold weather snaps homeless individuals often move into vacant structures seeking shelter. To stay warm fires are often started, and usually not in a fireplace or a fire pit. The wood in the structures is used for fuel. The also inevitable usually does happen--a house fire.
These out of control fires start a chain reaction of negative events:
a. Shreveport Fire Department personnel respond with men and equipment to extinguish the fire at taxpayer's expense.
b. The Shreveport Property Standards Division will then cite the property owner for the repair/demolition of the burned out structure.
c. With non-compliance with the Property Standards citation, the property will be added to a list for city demolition at the taxpayer's expense. (Although a lien is placed on the property for the cost of demotion these sums are very rarely recovered).
d. The value of adjoining properties is diminished until the burned out structure is completely demolished and the property cleared of debris. Even then a vacant lot which can become unkempt quickly can reduce adjoining property values.
e. The homeless individuals relocate to other vacant structures to escape the cold, fires are started to keep warm, and the entire cycle repeats itself.
The underlying dynamics of this problem are many and they are difficult to resolve on a piecemeal basis:
1. Homeless individuals usually prefer to stay in vacant properties versus going to shelters that have rules and structure.
2. By their nature this population is transient and not easily located after moving out of a vacant structure.
3. The owners of the vacant structures have often abandoned the premises for rental purposes and thus left the condition of the structure to deteriorate.
4. Often these owners live out of town and even out of state and are difficult to locate when properties are held in the name of limited liability companies.
5. In other instances, the vacant building is owned by numerous heirs who often have not filed successions for intervening deaths to legally place the current living heirs into ownership. Then you have multiple owners, many of whom are dead, and those living often have out of town addresses.
6. Many of these properties have been lost at tax sale due to nonpayment of taxes by the owners. Generally, these structures are adjudicated/transferred to the City of Shreveport by default because no one bids on the property at the tax sale. Those that lose ownership by tax sales have redemptive rights to be put back into ownership for at least three years. This further compounds the tax sale ownership of the City of Shreveport.
7. A squatter's law allows the posting of vacant structures for No Trespassing. If done correctly the Shreveport Police can lawfully remove any squatters. However, ordering them to vacate the premises does not preclude a return by those squatters or by others in the future.. Unless a vacant structure is completely boarded up, future unauthorized access by squatters is likely.
8. In some instances, those occupying vacant structures without authority are involved in illegal drug dealing and other criminal conduct that is best operated clandestinely in mobile locations. These individuals are just as dangerous if not more so to the structural integrity of the vacant building as well as the safety of neighbors. To avoid detection, these individuals are often very mobile moving from vacant structure to vacant structure.
These factors often overlap and further compound formulation of corrective policy as well as legal action to slow down the repetition of the burning building cycle. Stringent state legislation coupled with aggressive enforceable city ordinances will be needed to start rectifying this unfortunate reality in economically depressed areas such as Highland, and others, in Shreveport.
Aggressive property standards enforcement and demolition are the only available remedies, and they are not good ones. They are expensive to the city; they do not restore the housing stock, and the resultant empty lots do not encourage economic development.