Exactly.

Most often "legal" and "rightful" have nothing in common, like the "Law" and "Justice".

The last two comments make my point, although I would substitute "legal" for "rightful".

"Fee Simple" titles do not constitute ownership. It is an occupancy permit, contingent on payment of "rent". (property tax)

Look it up in Blacks Law.

The properties should be managed by their rightful owners, and the government should not be involved in any way - other than protecting the property rights of the rightful owners!

The properties could be offered up to first time home buyers who finish the home buyer workshops given by the city...or donated to habitat for humanity, or fixed and used as transitional housing or homeless shelters...even though the properties are in the 4th ward it doesn't necessarily mean they are slums themselves...they should not be sold to people who intend to use them as rental properties as there are already too many empty apartments in town that no one can afford...IMO

@Ezoner: It's more than just a connflict of interest. The government is claiming ownership of private property through the use of property taxes.
@evansvillehousewife: Do you really think that people abandon their real estate just because they can't afford a few shingles or a pane of glass? It's the property taxes that make people just give up and let the government take their property. These people have to live somewhere right? In these types of cases property taxes have made it economically unfeasible to stay in their homes.

I do not like to see the city or any government taking the properties over. Why are these properties not up for auction, including taxes and whatever else is owed. If not then there should be a bankruptsy and the bank taxes over (assuming a loan). Eiether way I see the city taking these for delinquent taxes as a conflict of interest.

mrsdamracefan... Actually, the 4th ward is full of families and young people starting out. THe crime is spread pretty evenly across the city until you get the the HOA and far West and East side.

I think what you really meant to say, was that you see brown people in those neighborhoods, and that scares you.

And Yada, yes i know how much a new roof costs...perhaps I should have qualified that as "roof repair." As far as me funding it, I do. It's called taxes, and again, I reiterate my point that I'd rather see people stay in their homes and get a repair here and there to make that possible; as opposed to them losing hope, abandoning their homes, and leaving these shells.

Taxes not paid in order of houses listed.
2007
2006
2007
2007

It's 3 years of back taxes when the city can take ownership.It doesn't matter if there is still a mortgage on the property either.Two things in life you can ALWAYS count on.....Taxes and death.

@frogger: I would not know how many years it takes to reach these levels of back taxes, but there's a good chance these homes are owned free and clear, meaning there is no mortgage, so the taxes would have had to have been paid directly. So the gubmint is basically claiming ownership through the imposition of property taxes that have accrued so high that the true owners are willing to abandon the properties. In other words, the government claims to have an ownership interest that exceeds the actual market value to the real owners, hence it is no longer worth it for them to try to keep and maintain the property. The government therefore is taking the property from its rightful owners.

I would assume the taxes on these homes ins't much. What they owe is 8-10 years of taxes. HOW can you get away with no taxes for THAT long???

You can ask the police department, the 4th ward is NOT the worst neighborhood in Janesville!!! We have worked very hard with the police to clean things up and they have told us things are obviously working good here because they are having more trouble with other neighborhoods then they are with the 4th ward. Many of us that live in the 4th ward are very proud of our homes and our neighborhood and if you think it is a bad neighborhood than please do not move here and please stop bad mouthing our home.

Who wants to buy a house in the 4th ward???? I bet no one except the slumlords. I know for a fact when we were looking for homes to buy we specifically asked to look at nothing there. The crime and grime and disrespect of neighbors, was enough for me to not have to want to deal with it on a daily basis. The city has better things to spend money on let them be demolished and be put to bed.

@evansvillehousewife: I have no problem with your idea of a grant program as long as there is zero involvement from the government. Why don't you start one yourself? Put someone with a brain in charge, and I will be happy to make the first donation.
@royo: Your comment was anticipated, thanks for being so predictable. That reminds me of the male who is forced to pay child support to a child that is not his. He gets a paternity test, it proves he cannot be the biological father, he is not married or otherwise committed to the mother. But the judge says, "it's not fair to the child to cut off the child support", so..keep paying (this is a true story). So because I keep hitting you in the face, I can't stop because you're so used to it? "Duuuuh....that's the way we've always done things around here...no one has ever asked WHY before SuperDave!"
@janesvillean: You said "I'm not sure I support the concept of private property at all". You are kidding right? Not sure what kind of Socialist Utopia you are living in (in your own mind). This country was founded on the concept of property rights (as well as other rights). And please spare me the class warfare nonsense, I'm not buying it.

I just choked on my lunch with laughter after reading the comment by EVANSVILLEHOUSEWIFE. It just struck me as being rather odd and very funny. It was the part about the city starting a grant program to help low income people and she LISTS--> A new toilet and then a new roof - Does she have a clue how much a new roof costs compared to a new toilet.....lol(Unless they have little roofs over their indoor toilets in Evansville - kind of like a thatched roof Cabana I guess. I'll bet that is what she was thinking.)

This proposal makes a lot of sense. I don't see how the city can go wrong in pursuing it.

Well, back at you SuperDave -- I'm not sure I support the concept of private property at all. Historically it has been used by the powerful and monied to expropriate resources from the weak and poor, while benefiting from the very governments about whose taxes they complain, and you seem to actually cheer that as a process. What you want is a government that is powerful enough to protect your private property rights, but not so powerful that it makes you pay your share of the costs. Hypocrisy of the "richest" sort.
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evansvillehousewife, the city actually does have some longstanding subsidies for housing purchase and rehabilitation.
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/citysite/...
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NewEagleWings, the same assistance programs apply to your objection. These are designed to encourage home ownership and owner occupancy and low income families are targeted by both the loan programs and the Buy, Rehab and Resell program.

So, SuperDave, how do you propose we pay for city services such as trash pickup, police services, fire services, park maintenance, road repairs and maintenance, etc if there are no property taxes to offset these costs? Please enlighten me.

First off we do not need any more "parks"and there are homeless children sleeping in vehicles because the income the families have falls below what they need to secure housing. One large city historic house could be made over into a shelter for families. There are three or four families who eagerly wait auctions to see if some greedy people might stay home and let people actually get a home without paying 100,000.00 Have you looked at the housing market? We dropped our home ten thousand dollars just to see if "anyone" would even come and look at it in a market of three or four houses for sale on every block. IF THE city bought houses at auctions and did land contracts, let them enter the real estate business but the vultures in Janesville are out in full force at not only auctions, but also every area where they choke out the very people who need a home. The city needs to do something with existing land they call parks and quit thinking they need to buy up more.

I propose the city start a grant program to low income families that take pride in their homes but need an occasional lift. Say a new toilet, new roof, new water heater- all things that contribute to the livability of a home, but expensive.
I would rather see home owners be able to keep their homes and maintain the neighborhood, than lose their homes due to sanitation issues.

Also, proprty taxes are not rent, but rather payment for city services. Trash, police, and schools cost a lot to run, therefor, we must pay a lot to benefit from them.

@janesvillean: You see, I am opposed to the entire concept of property taxes to begin with. It amounts to no less than paying rent on property you supposedly own. And in this case, it puts into motion a series of events (tax foreclosure) that ends with gubmint basically stealing private property. Abandonment would be extremely rare were it not for gubmint claiming ownership in the form of property taxes. People do not voluntarily walk away from their property, they only do it when the claims on their property far outweigh the perceived value. Property taxes cause the problem. The fact that they have been around for hundreds of years matters not.

the city is too stupid to profit in real estate
tpaine, good question. As a reporter and concerned citizen of the city, the first question I would have answered in the column is "does the city make money doing this?" People left and right are using their assets right now to make themselves incredibly more secure in the future. Is the city doing the same?

SuperDave, first of all, tax foreclosure is as old as English common law. When someone doesn't pay their taxes, how do you propose to handle that? Again, some of you seem to be posting your comments from alternate realities where such things have never happened before.
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Second, and this is for everyone else, putting these properties back on the tax rolls in private ownership is the GOAL of this program.
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As a resident of the Fourth Ward, I can tell you what would happen if the city does not intervene. One of our mega-slumlords (I am talking about people who collectively own upwards of 500 rental properties) would snap it up, fix it up the absolute minimum they need for a certificate of occupancy, and then proceed to take this property they already purchased dirt cheap (just for the delinquent taxes, you realize) and put about $5 a year in maintenance into it even as they rent to felons and other nuisance tenants (noise, trash, etc.) for as long as it takes to get as much money as they can out of the property -- until the day the city says it must be razed. In the meantime any responsible neighboring tenants and property owners will have had to live through months or years of behavior ranging from annoying to criminal while looking at a building that strongly resembles a pile of debris at the demolition dump -- if, that is, they don't give up on the neighborhood and move away. The low rents that the slumlords will charge for these deteriorating properties -- with everything from drafts to rats -- will depress property values AND citywide rents.
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The city's program will rehab the salvageable properties and bring them back to decent, liveable condition that will attract buyers who will commit to live in the property themselves for a set number of years. That commitment will pay off for years to come. It isn't profit the city seeks, it is the name of the program -- neighborhood stabilization.
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I'm not always happy with the properties the city chooses to raze under this effort, but in a lot of cases, as with Case Feed, it was just too late to save them economically.

They will never learn.

It disgusts me that the city gubmint sees fit to takeover private property. Put it up for sale! If property taxes have stolen the value of the property, well then that speaks for itself.

This is a great program for Janesville, it is wonderful to see the homes rehabed and have new families in them rather than have them falling down and being an eye sore. The homes that have been rehabed by the city have been done wonderfully, they did great jobs on all of them so far. We have had to lose a few homes that were too far gone to save but that happens with neglect, the city removed the house and now there is nice green space there. Keep up the good work City of Janesville.

Wow, no one has commented on the house with 3 bedrooms and 12 baths so I am guessing no one has read the article.

the city is too stupid to profit in real estate

Put them up for sale and let OWNERS buy them.

Put them up for sale and let OWNERS buy them.

With 2 out of 3 people voting against this ideal what makes yuou think city hall cares about your poll,