509 O St NW- Still Vacant, Still Falling Apart

509 O St NW, a photo by In Shaw on Flickr.

There is a little less of the building since this photo was last taken. It is a study in how a building can slowly fall apart.
I pass by it often, at least once a week. It is still an eyesore that apparently no princes nor principalities can redeem.

454 N St NW

454 N St NW, a photo by In Shaw on Flickr.

Sometimes DC government can help with the problem. Sometimes DC government is the problem.
According to the DC tax database, the blighted property 454 N St NW, is owned by the District of Columbia, Suite 307. As you may hazard a guess, it pays no taxes so there is no point of having it taxed at the vacant rate.
The thing with these DC owned properties is eventually (10-20 years eventually) they do make their way back to the tax rolls as an occupied property, but not any time soon. In the meantime, neighboring properties suffer.

Follow-up: 1002 M St NW

This blog was started sometime back in 2007 by Ed. I inherited it in 2010 and so far have done very little since then. There are some links and posts regarding some properties that were blights and eyesores at one point in history, that are now a part of the fabric of the neighborhood. In the right column there are addresses that I'll take a quick look-see to discover if those properties have joined the ranks of the normal properties or remain blights of the street.

Today I looked at 1002 M St., NW. It was featured by Ed May 23, 2007. It was a Class 3 then later Class 1, vacant property in 2007. Today it is a set of 4 condo units with 3 of those owners receiving the homestead deduction. What this means is this former vacant property has become a home to about four households, who in addition to paying property tax add to the income tax rolls as well.

According to Redfin, the first unit was listed in July and sold in August 2012 for $529,999. Looking at the other units, they were sold either in July or September in 2012 between $449.9K and $630K. The building was converted to condos in 2011, which I'll guess the building was renovated in 2011-2012 and made available for sale.

This is what I hope can happen to many units featured here. That the vacant rate taxes or other incentives will get owners of vacant properties get inspired to make them occupied dwellings once again. So with this I remove "1002 M St, NW" from the column and add the tag 'occupied' to this address.

Not too keen on DC Council's "Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief Act of 2013"

Vacant house that was
receiving the
Senior Citizen
Homestead Deduction

Every so often I like to check up on a property in SE DC that was once owned by my late great-aunt in the tax roles. She died 2 years ago. Before she died, she was in a nursing home for years in Maryland. She had a will and though it has been 2 years now, the house is still the deceased's name, empty, and her homestead status reads: "** Currently receiving the Senior Citizen Homestead Deduction*." The yearly tax is equal to dinner at Marcel's for two.
Last year the District of Columbia introduced legislation B20-0318 Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief Act of 2013. On the 7th of this year it got it's first vote/reading. Though the city can afford the loss of tax revenue however, the city's record with the plain old Senior Citizen Homestead Deduction has been poor in practice. My great aunt's house is an example of this. To the best of my knowledge the house is vacant but not blighted. Unfortunately, I've encountered a blatantly vacant house receiving the Senior Citizen Homestead Deduction that was endangering the surrounding houses. My concern is without the tax, seniors will either move or die, leaving properties to fall into disrepair, and damaging the neighborhood. Yes, there is language about qualifying and alerting the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) about periods when the owner no longer qualifies, but that is too dependent on the owner, the estate and survivors, who have zero incentive to pay up and will have less incentive to repair properties. The law is great for co-operatives and possibly condos, horrible for single family homes and townhouses.
This blog's interest is in vacant properties that are blights and harm the neighborhood. This is well meaning legislation, however, because of my observations with enforcement (or lack thereof) with the homestead exemptions (senior and non-senior) I see problems.

Update to Yellow Tape Crooked House

There is now a tall chained linked fence surrounding the yellow end structure that was mentioned in my last post "Yellow Tape, Crooked House" .
A quick look in DCRA's PIVS Application (Property Information Verification System) shows no recent permits for 1801 6th St NW, nor 1803 6th St, NW, the adjoining property which shares a lot number with the offending structure.
Another peak at recent sales (though the tax office can be slow at posting these things) do not show the proerty being sold to anyone and still owned by E.D. Samuel who is not receiving the homestead deduction. The properties, as they share one lot, are taxed at the normal rate. There are no strongly positive search results in the Social Security Death Index, but I don't have as much confidence in the SSDI since I still cannot locate my dead aunt, the one with the estate paying her reduced senior property tax rate. 

Yellow Tape- Crooked House

This will be cross-posted with InShaw


This is 1801 & 1803 6th St NW. 1801 looks very vacant and appears it may one day fall down. Problem is that it is attached to 1803 6th St and I gather they are supposed to be one structure and are taxed as one and share SSL 475-0057, according to the Tax office.

Vacant no more

A repost from the InShaw Blog:

This little photo is from the DCRA's PIVS, which I think get's it's photo from another system, but it's all DCRA, so it is all good. In 2010, 1607 New Jersey Avenue NW was a mess. I posted about the rear of the house and how it looked like the back of the house was due to collapse into the alley at any moment. The owner of the house had died but was still getting the Senior Citizen Homestead Deduction.
The city, I assume, came and removed the offending rear wall. Unfortunately, the house still had stuff in it. I remember calling the city to complain that the property was not secure. I also remember asking some neighbors doing reno work on their own homes to help board up or secure the boards on the rear.
Recently, work has been done. I gather the estate of the former Mr. Arvid W Broadus either sold to or became the new developer fixing the place up. I haven't paying close attention to the rehab and renovations but it is looking good. Who knows it might come on the market around early spring 2014 or sooner.

May or maynot be vacant but surely concerning

I've noticed a house over the years at the corner of 6th and S Streets NW that looks as if it is falling down, or about to fall down. In the front, on the 6th Street side I have noticed the windows getting ever more crooked as the years go by. The brick along the chimney disappeared some time ago. Cracks under and above the windows along with new cracks (new to me) along the S Street side that seem to hint that this building might fall down the small hill it is on.
The house at 1801 6th St NW is attached to another house at 1803. According to DC.gov's online property tax database the two addresses are combined and owned by someone living in the corner structure, but not receiving a homestead deduction, or even a senior citizen discount. So I am not going to look at the Social Security Death Index but I will keep my eye on this one.

1910 2nd St NE



Credit DaMenDC

 This is from the Eckington Yahoo List on July 21, 2013:

The vacant property on 1910 2nd St NE has extensive fire damage and has
been sitting there like a disaster for almost a month now. Is the city
responsible for boarding up the windows to prevent vagrants and criminals
from occupying the home for illegal activities? If not, who is supposed to
clean this mess up?

http://t.co/ 40cD0B9jNf

430 Manor Pl NW

The Washinton City Paper has an article about a vacant property at 430 Manor Place NW, "Lost and Foundering: Why so many of D.C's vacant houses stay that way." The article uses the beforementioned property as an example of how the system set up to address vacant and blighted properties has trouble with orphaned properties.