OVERGROWN- This home on 22nd Avenue in Golden Gate city is typical of most foreclosures. Rodents and trash were found in the high weeds and abandoned vehicles littered the front and back yards. The yard was mowed, the home secured and vehicles towed away.

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Collier County sheriff’s deputies are tracking down the Dirty 30 and they need the community’s help.

The Dirty 30 is made up of the top five most problematic properties in six sheriff’s sub-districts. Once identified, the properties are put on a fast track to locate the owner or responsible party and apply pressure to secure a timely resolution of weed, security, and safety issues. The list is a work in progress; once a property is secured and problems abated, another property replaces it.

“We thrust ourselves into this issue because we think it’s important to the community,” says Cmdr. John Mausen, “We want to identify the vacant homes so we can keep an eye on them and avoid vagrancy and drug issues.”

According to Cpl. Dave Butler, coordinator of Community Caretaker, the initiative touches every community, whether gated or not.

“It doesn’t follow any demographic, ethnicity or community style,” he explains. “We’ve seen abandoned homes in the Vineyards and Island Walk, just as we have in the neighborhoods up the block.”

The initiative is designed to address properties that have fallen into disrepair, to prevent them from becoming not only an eyesore, but a nexus for criminal activity and/or a threat to the health, safety and welfare of nearby residents. Ultimately, if left unattended, homes, yards and commercial buildings will deteriorate and cause blight that contributes to the devaluation and crime rate of the community.

To identify and track progress of the Dirty 30, the sheriff’s office is currently cataloging properties thought to be abandoned, relying principally on community observer patrols and input from the public. Deputies then verify that a property is abandoned and whether it meets the health, safety, non-maintenance or criminal activity criteria.

Butler says residential input is the key to the success of the program.

“If we can’t see the problem, we can’t fix it,” he says “Citizens can empower themselves by calling us if something looks wrong. If there are people coming or going or unloading things; if there’s activity at an empty property at night; if there are water jugs and candles, call us. If it matters to you, it matters to us.”

DESTROYED - A religious group planned to build a school on this nine-acre property off Collier Boulevard. Gang members moved into the unattended home and destroyed the structure, which was later turned over the fire officials for training purposes. The home will eventually be demolished and the site cleared.

The types of issues seem to vary from district to district. North Naples sees mainly overgrown lawns, Golden Gate has mostly trash and landscaping issues and East Naples has more abandoned commercial properties in the mix, according to Mausen.

Butler says the worst of the Dirty 30, thus far, was a home on upscale Tamarind Ridge, which became a nexus for crime following a foreclosure eviction.

When notified of their eviction, the family members, all of whom had prior felony convictions, returned to the house, trashed the inside and threw all of the furniture onto the front yard, where weather and vegetation soon turned the property into a hideous eyesore.

“It was really bad -- the worst of the worst,” Butler said. “It looked like a rummage sale gone bad.”

Bowing to code and sheriff’s requests, the bank that held title to the property brought in five commercial dumpsters in order to clear the lot, before the property was sold to a nearby resident who wanted to maintain the street’s property values.

“You’d never know it to look at it now. It’s truly a success story,” Butler says.

Another property on the Dirty 30 list was a nine-acre spread off Collier Boulevard, that a local religious group purchased for $1 million with the intention of building a school. The site, hidden from the roadway by vegetation, included a two-story home and pole barn, both in good condition. The project was put on hold after funding fell through.

AMAZING RECOVERY - A high-end home on Tamarind Ridge proved to be the worst of the Dirty 30, with an extreme criminal nexus. Once evicted, the family strew all of the home’s furniture and appliances across the yard. More than 10 trees had to be removed to prevent them from falling on neighboring properties.

Months later, the group learned gang members had taken over the home, which still had the electricity on. Graffiti covered the walls, windows had been broken, walls were kicked in and twice, fires were started inside the home.

“It had been a nice house, but it was totally destroyed,” Butler said. “When we contacted the owners, they said they thought the pest control service would tell them if there were any problems with the property.”

Instead of trying to repair the home, the group gave permission for the Golden Gate Fire Department to raze the the structures for training.

In East Naples, knocking down blighted properties has been the best solution for several of its Top Five, one of which was a car wash on U.S. 41. The owner was reluctant to make repairs following substantial damage by Hurricane Wilma and the location became an eyesore as well as a hangout for transient people, according to Community Oriented Policing deputy Cpl. Mike Nelson.

Through combined agency efforts, Nelson says the owner eventually pulled demolition permits and contracted to have the structure knocked down.

“The objective is to explain things to property owners in hopes of working with them, rather than being heavy handed,” said Nelson.

GONE - Deemed a health and safety issue, this house on Karen Avenue in East Naples was knocked down and the lot completely cleared in advance of Tropical Storm Fay.

The Community Caretaker initiative was intended to include community partners, such as Naples Area Board of Realtors, the Collier Building Industry Association and the Economic Development Council.

According to Ellie Krier, NABOR government affairs director, her group has provided technical information to help law enforcement understand the foreclosure process.

“It can be very frustrating. Ownership during foreclosure is not a clear issue,” she said.

Butler says individual real estate companies have been helpful in tracking down some owners with information gleaned from related property transactions.

CBIA Vice President Brenda Talbert said her association’s role has not been clearly defined.

“Everyone wants to keep buildings from deteriorating, because that is a magnet for crime and we’re certainly interested in maintaining the quality of our community because it is reflected in our property values,” she said. “We have plenty of licensed contractor members, but I don’t know if they’d do something free. We’re not a public service group like the police department. No one has gotten back to us about what they want. We are not at the point where we’ve committed to anything.”

Mausen says most of the concerns handled by the initiative have pertained to overgrown vegetation and locating owners to address the condition of the homes. He said they have not yet reached the point of having to board up many properties, an action that requires an appearance in front of special master and unequivocal proof there is no alternative.

GONE - This property on Van Buren in East Naples is now an empty lot, following demolition and clean up.

Despite the fact the majority of foreclosures are in working class communities such as Naples Manor, Golden Gate and Naples Park, officials say there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Nelson says East Naples is starting to see people buying homes out of foreclosure and moving back in, as well as neighbors pitching in to mow the yards of empty homes near them.

In some gated communities, faced with the prospect of raising homeowners’ fees lost to foreclosures, residents are stepping up to care for the yards and pools of abandoned homes.

“Waterways is a good example of a community that is trying to address the problem by having residents take on some of these duties,” Butler says. “It makes a big difference when the community gets involved.”

To report a property that is abandoned or not properly maintained, call 793-9300 or go online to www.colliersheriff.org. and click on Report a Growhouse or Abandoned House under the “How Do I?” tab.