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Partly Cloudy Seaford residents fed up with vacant house
Joy Court in Seaford has two houses. Only one of them is occupied.
Residents of the neighborhood are fed up with looking at a vacant, dilapidated house at 3766 Joy Court. The small street is one block south of Seaford High School, connecting Seaman’s Neck Road to Anita Lane.
A website was recently created, www.joycourtseaford.com, calling on the Town of Hempstead to demolish the vacant home. Several windows have been boarded up, holes are visible near the roof and graffiti has been sprayed on the side facing Seaman’s Neck Road.
The home, built in 1954, does not appear on any foreclosure lists, and no recent sales of the property have been reported. Neighbors say the split-level brick house has been vacant for seven years. According to public records, the home was owned by Kaye Pope, who died in February 2009.
There was a reverse mortgage on the home, and neighbors say there appears to be a dispute between Pope’s children and the mortgage company, holding up any sale of the property. On Jan. 13, 2013, Financial Freedom Acquisition LLC issued a lien against the house for $544,185. The Town of Hempstead reports that taxes haven’t been paid on the property since at least 2014.
“It’s an eyesore,” said Frank DiGregorio, who lives around the corner on Hollis Lane. “It’s a terrible situation. We’re all sick and tired of looking at it.”
DiGregorio said that when he has visitors, he sends them through the back way because he doesn’t want them to have to pass the blighted property. He said he feels particularly bad for the residents who live across the street and next door to the home.
The website, which also serves as an online petition calling for the demolition of the house and had 97 signatures as of Monday, states concerns about squatters and animal infestation. It was started by Christi Terjesen, who lives at the corner of Anita Lane and Beechwood Place, after her husband’s complaints to the town didn’t yield any results.
“We walk by this all the time,” Peter Terjesen said. “It’s just a ridiculous eyesore. It’s only gotten worse. It’s not even like it’s tucked away and out of sight.”
