11 Investigates: Dozens of dead residents charged for nuisance properties
Blight and delinquent property taxes continue to hurt the Toledo economy.
On the night of June 6, 2003, Crystal Hunt got in her car in front of her Forest Avenue home after a graduation party.
Early the next morning, Hunt was found slumped over the steering wheel of that car, dead from a 9-millimeter bullet that had gone through her neck.
Nearly two years later, a jury convicted Daryl Mickles, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, of the shooting.
On July 18, 2022, the city of Toledo charged Hunt with failing to abate a nuisance, for allowing her home to fall into disrepair.
On Oct. 11, a bench warrant was issued for the woman who has now been dead for more than 19 years.
In the same central city neighborhood, Ramona Collins could only shake her head.
“We can all make mistakes, especially with paperwork. But if someone’s been dead for 19 years, and you’re still messing with them, how come you don’t know they’re dead?” Collins asked.
11 Investigates has learned that Hunt’s case is not unusual.
Tax investigation changes course
In June, 11 Investigates began sifting through delinquent property tax records for Toledo residents. The goal was to see how serious the issue is.
The list contained the names of 14,460 individuals who owed a combined total of $52 million. The top 3,009 names on the list alone accounted for $50 million of the total.
But in going through the list, it was determined that 497 people were deceased – some for more than a decade – but still accruing penalties on their homes. Hunt now owes the county $19,752, which is more than the county values the property.
And the real value of the property is likely much less. There are gaping holes in the walls, copper has been stripped from the home and the stairs are caving in. During a visit, a neighbor shouted, “Are you going to get them to tear that place down?”
Casey Diggins has been the supervisor of code compliance for about six months and has aggressively pursued owners of blighted properties. He said his office continues to refine procedures for going after owners of problem homes.
“We have access to probably six different agencies or companies that we utilize in order to verify information pertaining to property owners," Diggins said, "and if none of those reports indicate that the person is deceased, we continue our process.”
But 11 Investigates did a Nexis background search on Hunt and it clearly identified her as having died in June 2003. A simple Google search returned multiple articles on her murder.
In another case, Winona Thomas’ home on Potter Street sits empty. She died in 2014. Two months ago, a bench warrant was issued for her arrest for not appearing in court in August on a nuisance abatement charge.
Hunt and Thomas are among 58 people on our delinquent property tax list who have also been charged criminally after they died. In some cases, those are the only criminal complaints on their records.
A complicated problem
Not all properties that are blighted are delinquent and not all delinquent properties are blighted, but there does seem to be an inextricable link between the issues in the properties we examined.
There are roughly 120,000 properties in Toledo and 11% of them are delinquent. By comparison, .88% of properties in neighboring Fulton County are delinquent.
As far as blight, the city’s 11 housing inspectors have issued more than 12,000 warnings to homeowners so far this year for code violations. These could be for not mowing their yard, a roof that is falling apart and sometimes much more serious issues.
“Most of the time, our initial reason for being there is because of a neighbor’s complaint or a complaint from a concerned citizen,” James Molnar, director of building and code compliance, said.
In some cases, an owner needs a push to do needed maintenance, but in other instances, homeowners are enduring financial or health hardships and need community resources that Molnar can direct them to, such as Pathway.
“The idea is to identify those blighted properties, hopefully at the earliest stages, and let the owners know that 'hey, we’ve noticed this is going on with your property. It’s come time that this needs to be addressed,'” Molnar said. “We also want to connect those folks, who maybe don’t have the ability to fix the property, with community organizations and programs that the city provides before it turns into one of these abandoned properties.”
Abandoned properties hurt the city in multiple ways: they can be structurally dangerous and a location for illegal activity; they can be detrimental to the property values of other homes in the neighborhood, and the real estate generates no revenue for the city and county.
“Just think if you own the house next to that abandoned house and you are ready to sell your house. You get a purchase price and ultimately what’s going to happen is that the buyer has to go and get their appraisal done for the bank so the bank can approve the loan,” Molnar said. “I would say that any appraiser is going to set that value lower than it would if it has a perfectly nice house next to it.”
Team effort in Lucas County
When it comes to city real estate, the goal is for it to produce revenue and to not be a detriment to the neighborhood.
Lucas County Treasurer Lindsay Webb laughed when she was asked what she could do with the $50 million owed by the top 20% of delinquent property owners.
“Oh, my goodness. I take very seriously the responsibility of collecting the taxes because I know at the end of the day, the taxes go to essential services," Webb said. "They fund firefighter positions, they fund first responders and our lovely zoo and Imagination Station and all of these essential aspects to our community.”
As the treasurer, she has the ability to foreclose on properties, set up payment plans for those in delinquency, and she also works closely with the county land bank.
“In the last decade, we’ve worked with the treasurer’s office and the prosecutor’s office to take ownership of over 7,000 of those vacant and abandoned properties and demolish those that need to be demolished and clean up problems that have existed for a while,” David Mann, president/CEO of the land bank, said. “We also transfer vacant lots to next-door neighbors to add to their property, put them back on the tax rolls. In the best case scenarios, we see properties get renovated, and not only have someone living in them again and taking care of them, but also being put on the tax rolls.”
Neighborhoods suffer
The issue points to the enormity of the challenge faced by city and county officials in addressing blight.
Sometimes property owners don’t care about being taken to court, according to Molnar. They might not respond to city warnings, and sometimes they’re dead. Whatever the reason, the whole neighborhood suffers and there are no easy answers.
Collins lives in a beautiful well-kept home in central Toledo, a short distance from Hunt’s property. Across the street, some of the homes are abandoned and falling apart.
“I was born in Toledo, I’ve been here a long time," Collins said. "But when you get to a certain point in your life, you start to think: 'What am I going to do next?' I don’t want to look at houses that need to be torn down for the next 10-15 years.”