Abandoned Homes Project Launches "It's Not Worth It!" Campaign Aimed at Keeping Owners of Abandoned Homes Out of Jail

BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Dec. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Some owners of vacant and abandoned homes may be headed to jail and a newly launched, public-service initiative at the Abandoned Homes Project in Beachwood, OH aims to warn them of the real and present dangers of being fined and jailed for not maintaining their property. The campaign's co-creator, nationally-recognized advertising executive Gary Fox-Robertson, who has designed advertisements for the likes of McDonald's and the U.S. Army, hopes the message hits home. "When the Project came to me to design a campaign to reach owners of abandoned homes I, like most people, did not realize you can go to jail for owning an abandoned home. This is an important message that owners of these vacant and abandoned homes should not ignore," says Fox-Robertson.

"If you own a vacant or abandoned home, it's time to either maintain your property or work with an organization like the Project that can provide an attorney for free and connect you to other valuable resources. Otherwise, you may be headed to jail. It's really that simple," says Julius L. Cartwright, a past-president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers who sits on the Project's Board of Directors. He, along with his fellow board members, unanimously approved funding to provide free legal assistance to 400 homeowners who they say face current housing court prosecution or are "highly-likely" to be prosecuted in 2019 based on the Project's research. "Cities tend to concentrate their housing court prosecutions into certain geographic areas at certain times of the year. If you're getting letters from us, it means we are seeing an increase in owners of abandoned homes in that area being prosecuted, and you could be next," says Cartwright.

Some owners of abandoned homes, like James Mader of Cleveland, learned the hard way that housing courts are serious about jailing the owners of abandoned homes. According to a story featured on Cleveland's Fox 8 News in March, Mader's wife Pat says he needs a cane to walk and he had a heart attack doing a short stint in jail last year after being sentenced in housing court. "When he (her husband) heard 45 days in 'the workhouse,' he said 'but the houses are sold'", said Mader. Apparently, the fact that Mader sold the houses did not matter to the judge: Mader was sent to jail.

Wendy S. Rosett, an attorney who oversees the Project's legal efforts, says there are additional benefits to homeowners who work with the Project versus hiring their own attorney. "First, our program is free. Second, the Project's technology platform finds and pleads defenses to housing court prosecution that most attorneys have no clue exist," says Rosett.

For more information, visit www.ahponline.org and click the yellow "Start Here" button or call 216.766.5705 to apply for free assistance.

SOURCE Abandoned Homes Project

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http://www.ahponline.org