Zach Huffman

Journalism 413
12/14/15
Instructor: Kathy Jesse
Abandoned homes are more than just an empty property
Two years ago Ray Dudley put on his police uniform and headed into
work for the Muncie Police Department. I thought it would just be a
standard day in the office, Dudley said. Writing traffic tickets and
monitoring what was going on. You know the usual stuff.

Dudley did just what he expected until later that evening when
dispatch directed him and two other officers to an abandon home.
Dudley described that someone called 911 saying that suspicious
activity was taking place on a property located at the old west end of
Muncie. Due to the urgency of the call Dudley and the other officers
used their squad cars lights and sirens to expedite their travel time.
Dudley described the scene upon his arrival.

The first thing I noticed was that the front door of the abandon home
was wide open, he said.

The officers quickly got out of their car and cautiously stepped foot into
the abandon property where a 20-year-old woman laid unconscious.

That was somebodys daughter maybe a sister, she had family

somewhere, Dudley said.

The unconscious 20-year-old had just done what police call a hot
shot which is a lethal dose of heroin or methamphetamine.

Two years later Ray Dudley serves as the Sheriff for Delaware County
and that memory still sticks in the back of his head.

Because that house was wide open and abandoned that 20-year-old
could walk in and do whatever she wanted without anyone trying to
help her, Dudley said.

Nearly 4,700 homes sit empty in Muncie abandoned, lifeless and

devaluing the local community.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau roughly one percent of homes in

the Midwest are abandoned, but Muncie alone holds a much higher
rate at 15 percent. Homes can become abandoned for a variety of
reasons, but its often due to negligence of the property says Sherriff
Dudley.

I own property that needs work but I make sure its secure and that
the grass is cut. Its about being responsible as a property owner.

Brad King works for the Muncie Redevelopment Commission,

Neighborhood Investment Committee and serves as the Historic
Preservation Officer for the city. For the past two years King has been
developing ways to take abandon properties and enhance them for the
local community.

It has taken us almost the entire two years to develop the ground
work to make this possible, King said. Now were moving from the
developmental stage to the enacting stage.

The city has created three local projects that are designed to eliminate
abandoned properties across Muncie. The first is a property distribution
sale. This process takes the abandon property and sells it at a
discounted rate to the homes located directly next to property. King
says this project gives homeowners who are taking care of their
current home more land to build onto their house or extend their yard.

He said that it doesnt take much to utilize this, As long as the

homeowner takes care of the land and makes it look nice we usually
sell part of the property for maybe $250 or so.

The second project leases abandoned land for zero dollars to a

community organization or not-for-profit company that agrees to turn
the property into a community park or garden. The initiative also
known as the Pocket Parks Program has already generated one park
while two others are currently in the works. The Ball Brothers
Foundation donated $5,000 to help fund the first park, but King says
watching the community come together was the amazing part.

Not everyone could donate money to help build the park but it
seemed like nearly the whole neighborhood came out to put it
together.

Yet, it is the third program that King and the Neighborhood Investment
Committee are struggling to get off the ground. The goal for the
committee is to give families a home while enhancing the community
at the same time. The first task is for the commission to acquire the
abandon property and then it establishes an extremely low sale price
to sell to a family. In order for the buyer to establish ownership rights
they must pay the listed price and agree to fix the home to code
standards. King says the current problem is that the banks arent
willing to loan mortgages to fix the properties forcing the buyers to
back out.

Jewel Johnson serves as a financial advisor at Forum Credit Union and

she says the reason banks wont lend money to fix properties is
because banks are too often left with no payments being made on the
loan.

When someone doesnt make a payment were forced to foreclose on

the house but if the house is still rundown we have no way to get our
money back.

Both King and Dudley agree that the longer properties sit abandoned
the more money the city looses. King threw out a rough estimate that if
each of the 4,700 abandoned properties collected $2,000 for property
taxes over one year, then the city could profit more than 8 million
dollars.

Imagine over a ten year period. Thats 80 million dollars the city could
use to enhance what we do, King said.

Instead the city is paying money to insure others living near the
abandon properties remain safe. Dudley played out a scenario where
his office gets a call for a situation at an abandon property.

I send three of my guys out there because I dont know what to

expect. We then come across a meth lab and have to call in the state
police and health department, which is an expensive undertaking,
Dudley said.

He continued the scenario by calling in a paddy wagon, paying for the

people to sit in jail and finally prosecuting attorney, judges and court
fees.

Youre looking at tens of thousands of dollars once the scenario is

over, he said. What makes it more sad is how often it happens.

King says that no matter what its all going to take time and it is his
optimism that keeps his progress moving forward.

This stuff just doesnt happen overnight, he said. If we can change a

house we can change a street, if we can change a street we can
change a neighborhood and just maybe if we can change a
neighborhood we can change a city.

Contacts:
Sheriff Ray Dudley- 765-747-7885
Brad King- 765-747-4825
Jewel Johnson- 317-841-6712