Recently, you might have seen a 110-year-old house (down there in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood) in the headlines or in the news for a very obvious reason. Right? Like, it is a super old house that isn’t maintained properly by the owner, and that’s why the neighbors are complaining about it and the city is stepping in to do something about it. At first, it might sound like these people are just overreacting, like, all it is just an old house that isn’t maintained properly, then what? Like, it is the owner’s choice.
You might think that way until you hear about the risks associated with it. Risks? Oh yes, there are quite a few actually! We’ll come to those later, but for now, just know that there is a North Park Home Code Violations Lawsuit in action, and let’s just go over the details of this case.
The City Says This House is a Safety Disaster
A safety disaster? How exactly? See, first of all, this isn’t a new problem down there in the North Park neighborhood, the city has been getting complaints about it for more than 7 years now. People are saying that this building is totally unsafe. And then you hear them describe the problems, like the building is in no shape, like no running water, no power, no sewer connection, and things like that. Well, to some of you, that might not sound too dangerous of a thing, so much so that the city officials need to step in to take action. Right? But, you see, there is a BIG concern, and that is regarding the unstable structure of the building itself. Since it is not maintained that well, it is highly likely that this house could collapse without any warning. And that is the “unsafe” part about this case and this house. Now do you get it?
And the thing is, city officials tried to reach out to the owner multiple times to get them to fix things a bit, but nothing really changed over the years. So now, the city has taken the legal route, you know, they’re taking this matter to court and they want the court to appoint a “receiver” in this case.
What’s a “Receiver” and Why Does It Matter?
Well, the receiver in this case is basically a neutral third person (not from the city or the owner) who would take control of the house. And this is the person who would be in charge of fixing things around, or maybe figure out another way to deal with the property.
So yes, in a way, if the court brings in a receiver in this case, then the homeowner can very well lose control over their own property. But as of March 2025, no receiver has been appointed by the court.
Another surprising thing we recently got to see is that even with all these problems, the owner has put the house (or at least the land) up for sale for almost $600,000. Some people are out there saying that this amount is too much for the house, you know, considering all the problems with the property.