Peak Avenue house abandoned for more than 15 years

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Residents of Peak Avenue want something in town to fix the abandoned crumbling house at the end of the street.

The backyard is littered with debris, the foundation is crumbling, and neighbors are using the yard as a parking lot.

“They have a lot of houses to demolish, but 20 years old. I think it needs to be dealt with, 20 years is a long time to demolish the house,” said neighbor Doug Gronemeier.

Gronemeier said he has seen the house deteriorate over the past 15 years.

“That house, I tried to watch over it because I own the house next door. We have people walking into it from time to time, it’s completely bare, and I believe the owner is a foreigner, and he’s moved to his native country,” Gronemeier said.

After years of the property’s condition worsening, Gronemeier said he doesn’t understand why the city didn’t intervene.

“I know they have a lot of work to do and a lot of people to satisfy, so I’m not mad at them, but they really need to step up and get these houses demolished,” Gronemeier said.

City code inspectors told 13abc the city is suing the owner of the home — an LLC called Deutsche Bank National Trust — in court. The property is seized for an excess of $35,000 in overdue taxes. The house is expected to be auctioned off at a sheriff’s sale in January.

“I’ve lived on the street for about 20 years, and it’s basically the street Toledo forgot. We’re last in line to get snow, shovel snow, and sewers are constantly backed up into the storm drains. We have several abandoned houses here that need to be demolished,” says Gronemeier.

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