Cuyahoga County Treasurer Expresses Concern Over Area Homes Being Flipped On eBay

In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

• ["T]hey're the next round of vultures," Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis said. "They have no interest in the neighborhood. They have no interest in revitalization. They have no interest in Cleveland."

• In the last year, entrepreneurs in and out of state began buying vacant houses from sheriff's sales, banks and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, then selling them on e-Bay's Internet auction site, often to folks who have never been to Cleveland.

• The practice tricks bidders into buying wrecks they can't imagine, and sometimes even homes that no longer exist, officials say. It traps neighborhoods in a chain of apathy. And it leaves the city to trace strings of owners, so it can write building code citations and collect fines for boarding up windows or demolishing homes.

For more, see eBay auctions become house flippers' tools. ForeclosuresDestroyNeighborhoodsApple