CLEVELAND — A series of fires has uncovered a number of serious issues at a vacant house in Slavic Village.
At first glance, you might think it's a garage sale. But when you take a closer look, you'll quickly realize it's not.
"The house is full, top to bottom. It's a squatter house,” said Terry Krzynowek.
On East 55th Street, what's supposed to be a vacant home next door to Cecil Welch is instead overflowing with belongings. From the front yard to the back, as far as the eye can see, there is junk.
“I see a lot of clutter. That's about it,” said Welch.
That same house has been the scene of several fires, the latest happening just last night.
"Ever since the house got burned on the inside, he moved everything outside, and he's just been collecting stuff,” Krzynowek said. “We shouldn’t have to put up with this.”
So we reached out to the city of Cleveland to get answers.
"We were told that there was an individual that was squatting here, refused to leave,” said Tyler Sinclair, a spokesperson for Cleveland.
Sinclair said the property is owned by an out-of-town company based in Pennsylvania that has accumulated several violations tied to the property.
"We've actually cited them with a civil ticket back in May. We have issued them violation notices last month in June after the first fire. We followed up and called them, you know, and been in contact with them many times,” said Sinclair.
Court records show the property owner filed an eviction case in Cleveland Housing Court on July 15 against the person who wasn't supposed to be living there.
The property owner also responded to News 5, saying they're aware of the complaints and are working to address them, writing:
“SIMM Cap Fund IV LLC is aware of reports regarding an incident at the property and is in contact with the Cleveland Fire Department to obtain additional information.
Prior to this reported incident, the owner had already retained legal counsel and initiated legal proceedings to recover possession of the property. Those proceedings remain pending before the Cleveland Housing Court.
The owner has also been in communication with the Cleveland Fire Department regarding prior incidents at the property and continues to cooperate with the appropriate authorities.
We recognize the concerns expressed by neighbors regarding the condition of the property. While legal proceedings limit the actions we can take before possession is restored, we are actively preparing for cleanup and remediation as soon as we are legally able to proceed.
Because both the court proceedings and any investigation into this reported incident are ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time."
While we were there Wednesday, the man living in the home was taken into custody, and the cleanup finally began.
Everything from a mattress to vacuums and old video games was tossed into a dumpster. City officials said they'll continue monitoring the property to make sure the problems are addressed.
"We're going to be on top of them and making sure that they follow through on the cleanup that they follow through on fixing the violations and the other outstanding tasks that they need to finish,” said Sinclair.
For neighbors, the hope is simple: that this problem doesn't come back.
Nadeen Abusada is a Cuyahoga County and immigration reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Instagram NadeenAbusada or email her at Nadeen.Abusada@wews.com.
