In East San Jose, California there are so many foreclosed homes that have been vandalized it is becoming harder and harder to deal with. There are inspectors that come out to look at the homes to make sure that there home is passing codes and not vandalized, yet at an increasing rate the police have to come out to make sure no one is in the home at the time. With windows broken, bullet holes through the exterior and interior of the homes, and evidence of prostitution these homes are needing more than a monthly visit from inspectors.

There are patrols made by city workers to determine if these foreclosed homes needs repair and the owners which are usually banks or realtors need to make sure that they are not violating any city codes. If the city workers sees that the grass is too high, fence needs repair, windows need to be changed out, etc. then the owner needs to make sure that this is done. First warning is a $250 fine and then it increases to $500 and then $1,000. If the owner doesn’t pay these fines and improve the home then they could be penalized by having a lien put on their home.

In most cases the owners oblige to the San Jose city requirements. Before it gets out of hand the owners will pay the fine and get someone out there to fix the home up. More than half of the foreclosed homes being patrolled have one or more violations, but they do comply with what the city demands.