A court-appointed receiver has taken control of a blighted vacant lot in San Jose where fires burned down two abandoned Victorian homes and leftover debris.
A judge heeded a request from the City of San Jose to install a receiver to clean up and secure the nuisance property owned by a limited liability company led by developer Brent Lee at North Fourth and East St. John streets, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
“The era of allowing negligent property owners to harm the broader community is over,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told the newspaper.
The vacant lot at 100, 120, 146 and 152 North Fourth Street and 117 North Fifth Street were subject to two home fires, a fatal drive-by shooting, homeless encampments, piles of burnt debris and a dangerous dog, according to court records.
The size of the property between the Civic Center and the SoFa District was not disclosed.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shella Deen appointed Gerard Keena II of the Bay Area Receivership Group to “to take full, complete and sole possession and control of the properties.”
The judge also issued a restraining order and an injunction to the owner of the blighted properties from interfering with the operations and efforts of the receiver.
The court order allows the receiver to file a deed of trust that would be the first lien on the property. This lien would take precedence over all other liens on the site, other than tax liens.
The receiver would be able to sell the properties “if necessary, subject to the prior approval and confirmation of the court,” the judge stated in the ruling.
Lee controls the RPRO152N3 LLC that owns the blighted lots. Several years ago, Lee proposed the development of a student housing tower on the site, which never broke ground, according to the Mercury News.
A March fire destroyed two abandoned Victorian homes on the corner lot.
Another fire last month ignited the stacks of wood and debris left behind from the earlier blaze, forcing residents of nearby homes to flee, according to witnesses. A teenage girl suffered smoke inhalation and had to be treated at a hospital, court records show.
The Mercury News failed to reach the owner at one of his listed addresses. Court papers stated Lee had not communicated with the court. A process server reported multiple failures to serve documents on Lee, his affiliate or any representatives of Lee.
— Dana Bartholomew
Read more
Commercial
San Francisco
Lender seizes blighted office building in San Jose after default
Residential
San Francisco
SF’s Parkmerced apartments plagued by crime, vermin, squatters, debt
Commercial
San Francisco
Blighted storefronts blanket the Bay Area