ClevelandDesignCity

If anyone else had owned the two vacant and dilapidated houses on Friend Avenue, Maple Heights officials would have torn them down already.

They’ve been plundered by vandals and left to languish. The front porch on one is so damaged a city official won’t risk walking on it. The other suffered months of water damage before the roof was patched — but with a material that the city said should be used under shingles, not instead of them.

Yet the owner is beyond the reach of city housing codes. It’s the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development… (go to article)