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Vacant Homes, Suffering Communities, Happy Endings

Baltimore, MD July 3, 2008 A home goes into foreclosure, one of the 265,000 nationwide in May. Residents leave. Heat and power are cut. A burglar shatters a rear window and strips out the copper, leaving through the front door. Another burglar grabs cabinets. Then metals. A squatter sets up shop, perhaps using or selling crack. He lights a fire. The house goes up in flames just like 12,000 other vacant properties annually.

Communities Suffer: Police inspect the break-in. If the city is Los Angeles, the police call a board up service to put plywood in the windows. It doesn't matter that plywood won't deter more break-ins; it's all that the strapped city budget can afford. Now families in the community are steering their children clear of the property, knowing that criminals are coming and going. A study in Austin, Texas found that "blocks with unsecured [vacant] buildings had 3.2 times as many drug calls to police, 1.8 times as many theft calls, and twice the number of violent calls" as blocks without vacant buildings. These families also worry about the value of their own property. A 2001 study in Philadelphia found that houses within 150 feet of a vacant or abandoned property experienced a net loss of $7,627 in value. Any family hoping to escape the area by selling their house now has an additional obstacle.

The Happy Ending. Property owners are installing heavy gauge steel doors and window screens on their homes, finding that the installation eliminates all of the problems above. Most criminals see these metal doors and screens and don't even bother trying to get in, moving on to easier prey. Others try a bit of muscle to break in, but give up when they see their efforts are getting them nowhere.

Fortunately, the property owner and his or her authorized representatives can still enter because the steel door has a push button, programmable code. Carpenters, who are rehabbing the home, can enter, knowing that when they close the door behind them, they needn't fear intrusion by a gun-toting thug. Furthermore, the steel window screens have perforations, allowing a great deal of light and ventilation, facilitating the work of carpenters, enabling potential buyers to view the property's interior and eliminating odors from mold. Interestingly, this strong protection doesn't damage existing doors or windows.

Everyone - except the criminals - loves this system, which is rented to property owners by Vacant Property Security (VPS). "When I go out to a property secured by VPS, I personally feel very safe walking in knowing I can lock the door behind me and will have adequate lighting," declares Linda O'Donnell, owner of Re/Max Signature in Chicago. Police and fire departments like it because this protection frees up their officers for other needs. In fact, VPS, trains fire departments on how to enter secured properties if there is a fire. City managers love this system because it reduces crime and furthers city budgets. Neighborhood residents like it because it makes their block safer and maintains property values.