LORAIN, Ohio — Overgrown grass, piles of trash and suspected squatters at a Lorain property have been frustrating neighbors for months.
A tip during News 5’s “Let’s Talk” event brought attention to what neighbors described as a nuisance property. So we sought answers from Lorain’s Building, Housing and Planning Department and Lorain County Public Health.
Staff there said the West 25th Place property had already been on their radar, and they had been working with the Lorain Police Department to remedy the situation.
On Monday, neighbors said a large brown tarp draped over the home’s back deck was concealing heaps of garbage and debris.
"Why is it — we try to fix our house, but the back is all wrecked,” said Elizabeth Sanchez, whose home backs up to the property in question.
She said the property’s condition on Monday was still a vast improvement over what it looked like several weeks ago.
"It actually postponed our deck because [my husband] was saying, ‘I don’t want to be looking at that,’” said Sanchez. “We can see it because no one really has fences over here.”
Other neighbors shared photo examples of grass and weeds that had grown to nearly the height of the home’s chain-link fence.
"It’s a big concern, especially during the summertime, when it comes to fleas and ticks. When you don’t take care of your lawn, that’s what usually happens,” said neighbor Tamara Teter, who worried about her dogs running through the overgrown lot.
Another neighbor shared doorbell video footage of what she said was someone from the property trespassing onto her porch before walking around the back and trying to get inside her house.
Teter and Sanchez also noted numerous people at the vacant property at all hours.
"You’d have people coming in and out all the time,” Teter said.
The concerns were echoed by another neighbor during News 5’s “Let’s Talk” event in Lorain in June.
On July 7, the Lorain Building, Housing and Planning Department, Lorain police and Lorain County Public Health [LCPH] executed a search warrant on the property.
The city said it discovered people living inside the house illegally, as well as in two campers outside. All of the people were removed, and the property was deemed uninhabitable.
LCPH said it found violations for the accumulation of furniture, trash and debris, as well as a lack of potable running water.
According to property records, a bank took over ownership when the warrant was executed.
Neighbors said the previous owner, who was listed as the buyer in 2023, had died in April 2025.
Since then, records show Lorain police officers responded to the address at least a dozen times, including complaints from neighbors over suspected squatters.
The city said the property has been vacated, cleared and secured, and a contractor working with the new owner mowed and cleared much of the property on July 19.
Neighbors said they’re encouraged by the progress and hope it marks a new chapter.
"It’d be nice if someone actually takes it, paints it and a family can live in it,” said Sanchez.
The city said it has been working with a realtor and a prospective new buyer and expects them to address the remaining sanitation and safety concerns by the end of July.
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV, on Facebook CatherineRossTV or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com.
