Of Rehab, Theft, and the Silence of the Neighbors

The purpose of the rehab I do through my company is to provide stability for neighborhoods that are experiencing difficulties due to the foreclosure crisis. The statistics on the effect of foreclosed houses in a neighborhood are sobering. A 1 percent increase in foreclosures in a neighborhood correlates with a 2.3% increase in violent crime in that same neighborhood (Immergluck & Smith, 2006). Residents that have seen their neighborhood's foreclosure rate increase by 10-20% have seen a correspondingly sharp increase in crime. Our work is focused as much on the existing residents in the neighborhood as on those who are moving into our houses. Quickly moving houses out of foreclosure and getting them re-occupied protects the house from becoming a refuge for criminals or squatters. Returning the houses to the market supports property values by eliminating the downward pressure of bank sales.

Still, the recession ushered in by the housing/banking crisis has created many desperate people who are looking to improve their economic situation by preying on the efforts of rehabbers. To date, crooks have stolen cans of paint and construction materials from a house in active rehab, a water heater from the crawlspace of recently acquired home pre-rehab, bedding and a rug from a fully staged house (don't ask, I don't understand it either), and an AC unit from inside a locked metal cage. The hot water heater and AC unit were stolen in broad daylight in full view of the neighbors. Stealing an underground water heater is no small feat. A truck backed up the driveway, guys got out and broke the lock on the crawlspace. They scuttled inside and yanked a 160 lb, 5 foot tall water heater out of the ground, dragged it into the truck and drove away. No one called the police.

The AC unit thieves waited until the tenant left for work, then pulled into her driveway, positioned themselves on the side of the house in full view of the street and tried to peel the top of the metal cage back with wire cutters. That took so long that they gave up and used a crowbar to break the lock on the cage and ripped a 343 lb AC compressor out of the ground and drove off. Again, no one called the police and no one saw anything.

I heard a story about a daylight robbery of a boutique in a residential neighborhood. The burglars broke the windows, but were stymied by burglar bars that would not allow them to reach in and grab anything. A gentleman who had been watching walked over and showed them that the store owner had left the long-handled hook that retailers use to pick up items from high shelves near the window. He grabbed the hook and they proceeded to pick clean everything that was within the hook's reach. How do we know this whole story? Because the neighbors who were sitting across the street on their porch watched the entire thing and told the store owner later. Sigh.

Theft adds an appreciable cost to housing rehab. It drives up the cost of the work so it increases sales prices and rents. It also drives other buyers from the area. Developers are limited in what they can do to combat theft short of hiring round the clock surveillance. We need the help of neighbors to take down license plates and call the police immediately when a theft appears to be in progress.

Greed through all levels of the economy -- from bankers and mortgage lenders to neighborhood thieves -- have characterized this recession. The silence of people who knew better allowed the fire to burn, engulfing the global economy. Just as the regulators, ratings agencies, banks and attorneys have to re-examine their roles and act with a larger sense of responsibility and backbone, individuals who want to live in safe stable neighborhoods need to act like neighbors and watch out for each other. I think De La Soul said it best, "Neighborhoods are now 'hoods 'cause nobody's neighbors." I'm only as safe as the guy living down the street because after they come for him, they'll come for me.