CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Most people living on Wisteria Ct. can agree they live in a beautiful neighborhood, until you get to the end of the block at the teal home.
Frank Tripodi who lives next door says he’s fed up with what comes along with the home that’s been abandoned for at least two years now.
“The unkept yard, the rats, the smell,” he said.
He says the eyesore and now health hazard is costing him time and money.
“We pay extra a month for pest control, so we keep the rats off our property. We have multiple rat traps, and periodically we’re picking up dead rats in our yard,” he said.
Not to mention, the owner’s boat sometimes drifts in the middle of their canal, which Tripodi and other neighbors bring back to the dock.
“It shouldn’t be the community’s responsibility,” he said.
Kynse Leigh Agles is the realtor who’s working on a short sale of the home for the previous owner, which means a buyer can purchase it from the bank before it goes into foreclosure.
“I know that the process is taking a longer time, but my longest short sale was 4 years,” he said.
She said that owner’s husband died and she became ill and could no longer afford the home. The house was originally listed in May 2019 and last week an interested buyer and the lender entered the negotiation phase to sell the home, and later knock it down.
“We’ll have that submitted within the next few days, and fingers crossed that that’s our final step,” he said.
Tripodi also said he reached out to the City of Cape Coral to help with the property.
In a statement to Fox 4 the city said:
There is a long history of code violations at this property and the City’s Code Compliance is using every available legal option to get the violations corrected.
This property has been in foreclosure since October 2020 however, Code cases date back to September 2019. Many of the violations were not corrected which lead to hearings before a Magistrate. Fines were issued by the Magistrate that went unpaid and led to liens. The liens were paid last week, however, the violations have not been corrected.
The law does not allow the City to remove a boat or other personal items from private property. Removing derelict vessels from waterways is regulated by state law and is addressed by the Police Department. I checked with the Police Department and I believe the boat you are referring to ended up in the canal following Tropical Storm Elsa. Removing the boat will take time as the derelict vessel process is lengthy.
Code staff has been in contact with a property management company that works with the bank through the foreclosure process. The property management company is aware of the existing violations. If the existing violations are not corrected this could lead to more fines and/or liens.
