DAYTON -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Dayton City Manager Tim Riordan on Friday announced that they have filed a lawsuit against a property owner whose property was damaged by fire in March 2010 and subsequently demolished by the city of Dayton.
According to the announcement, the lawsuit was filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court against Wright Homebuyers LLC, which owned the property at 1509-1511 Viola Avenue in Dayton. After a fire in March 2010, and receiving notices that the property needed to be demolished, DeWine said the owner took no further action, and the responsibility for the demolition ultimately fell on the City of Dayton. The lawsuit seeks to collect the costs incurred by the city in demolishing the property, totaling more than $16,000.
"Not all abandoned properties are the result of the housing crisis or banking practices," DeWine said. "There are occasionally egregious cases where negligent property owners have contributed to this problem and should be held liable for the demolition costs, instead of their neighbors and fellow taxpayers. We want to help cities recoup these costs and will help them go after these negligent owners in any way we can."
Dayton City Manager Tim Riordan said the fight against abandoned and blighted houses is one of the city's highest priorities.
"Empty homes damage the vitality of an entire neighborhood and drain precious tax dollars through demolition costs," Riordan said. "We think this aggressive new legal action will prompt other negligent property owners to avoid the same fate by fixing or removing these eyesores before we come after them. Until now there was little cities could do to coerce derelict property owners into doing the right thing."
DeWine said he has worked with City of Dayton and Montgomery County officials since he created the Demolition Grant Program in February.
A copy of the lawsuit can be found here.
According to the announcement, the lawsuit was filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court against Wright Homebuyers LLC, which owned the property at 1509-1511 Viola Avenue in Dayton. After a fire in March 2010, and receiving notices that the property needed to be demolished, DeWine said the owner took no further action, and the responsibility for the demolition ultimately fell on the City of Dayton. The lawsuit seeks to collect the costs incurred by the city in demolishing the property, totaling more than $16,000.
"Not all abandoned properties are the result of the housing crisis or banking practices," DeWine said. "There are occasionally egregious cases where negligent property owners have contributed to this problem and should be held liable for the demolition costs, instead of their neighbors and fellow taxpayers. We want to help cities recoup these costs and will help them go after these negligent owners in any way we can."
Dayton City Manager Tim Riordan said the fight against abandoned and blighted houses is one of the city's highest priorities.
"Empty homes damage the vitality of an entire neighborhood and drain precious tax dollars through demolition costs," Riordan said. "We think this aggressive new legal action will prompt other negligent property owners to avoid the same fate by fixing or removing these eyesores before we come after them. Until now there was little cities could do to coerce derelict property owners into doing the right thing."
DeWine said he has worked with City of Dayton and Montgomery County officials since he created the Demolition Grant Program in February.
A copy of the lawsuit can be found here.
