Lexington Officials Find Ways to Handle Abandoned Property

The owner of a two-story home on Lexington's West Third Street died in January 2008 without heirs to assume responsibility for the property. The house remained empty for years, and Faith Harders, who lived next door, watched with concern as the house deteriorated. "My greatest fear was a homeless person would break in, start a fire to keep warm and burn the house down," Harders said of the house at 543 West Third. That happened a few years earlier to a vacant house across the street, she said. Harders called LexCall 311 to notify the city's code enforcement office about the house. That's how the city learns about most run-down and abandoned property.