Abandoned house next door-borough doing nothing

[Timothy Frazier]

Have a rental which is the right side of a duplex.

Left side has been abandoned for 5 years, it was abandoned when I bought it.

Despite numerous attempts by myself and the neighbors to get the borough to do something about it they have done nothing. What they constantly say is the owner passed away, there was no will, and none of the kids set up an estate. There’s nobody they can sue or fine. Blah blah blah.

Here’s the real catch now. My house needs some structural improvements and I’ve sent out PEs/SEs to asses and get some quotes. They all tell me the same thing: that house next door is sinking/collapsing and it’s pulling my house with it. There’s not even a point of attempting structural improvements for mine until that one is torn down. Also that house has no gutters and all the runoff is dumping towards me which is causing damage to my place.

There’s no way the borough can sit on it like this and cause me this much risk. Not to mention the fact that there’s animals all throughout that house that can crawl through holes and into my ceilings, disturb tenants, etc.

It’s obviously within the borough bylaws and codes to tear it down they just won’t do it. Anyone ever go through anything like this or have any advice? I think I’m going to get a signed structural report by the PE and show it to the borough, either they tear it down or I take them to court.