Inherited a Nuisance Property

[Cassidy Pathak]

I recently inherited what can only be termed as a nuisance property. As it has a newer furnace/ac, newer roof, and just needs a lot of cosmetic fixes I would like to renovate it. The problem is someone who used to stay their sometimes keep coming in and trashing the place I've spent 2k just on clean out and in retaliation the guy slashed the cleaning truck's tire. I've sealed every window/door on the lower level and installed surveillance so they can't enter. 

My question is how do you handle these people-particularly in STL? At some point I'm going to need to take the boards off and do the exterior/show the property. The cops attitude in the city seems to be 'if you're not actively dying go away' so they really didn't do anything. The neighborhood is coming back and it's hot for investment right now so I don't want to just give up.

[Jeff Copeland]

The key may prove to be catching them in the act*. At that point, you should be able to call the police and have them trespassed from the property (if not arrested for vandalism or whatever laws they may be breaking). Once they have been trespassed, it usually means an automatic trip to jail of they are caught on the property again. 

*I realize this may be easier said than done. Depending on how often they come back (and how reliable their schedule is), it may even mean hiring a private security guard for a few weeks. Security guard catches them, calls the police, gets them trespassed...

Sure, paying for a security guard sucks. But sometimes it's a cost of doing business. It beats paying for slashed tires, broken windows, and repeatedly fixing things they break.