Wells Fargo Spends $19K In Repairs On Foreclosed Home; City Demolishes It Anyway

In Cleveland, Ohio, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

• Cleveland tore down an empty century home on the city's East Side last month after a bank spent more than $19,000 to fix it up. Wells Fargo Bank of Minnesota complained, but city officials said they had no idea the house was under repair because the bank failed to obtain permits for the work. [...] The city has been on an anti-blight crusade, razing hundreds of abandoned houses at a clip, including the Wells Fargo property on East 98th Street. The bank, which foreclosed on the property, had taken title at a sheriff's sale and was restoring the condemned structure. Contractors had painted the house and repaired its slate roof, gutters and foundation. [...] Today, all that remains on the lot is a sumac tree.

In another Cleveland demolition case, a crew last May knocked down an empty two-family house after a local councilman e-mailed the Building Department asking that it be taken off the wrecking list. A prospective buyer had already fixed the garage and rewired the house.

For more, see Cleveland tears down house that was being fixed up (Cleveland steps up demolition efforts).