Audrey and Stephen Riser thought they had found the perfect spot for their dream home back in 1994, when they bought a lot in Lake Ridge, an upscale community in far southwest Dallas County spanning Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie.

But burned-out homes and a number of foreclosures along Rolling Oaks Ridge, where they built their 3,940-square-foot home in 1998, have soured the couple on their neighborhood.

“Lake Ridge has just ruined my dream,” said Ms. Riser, who lives across the street from a home at 2519 Rolling Oaks Ridge that burned in January. Another home around the corner on Golden Pond also sustained fire damage several months ago, and both houses are exposed to the weather.

The Rolling Oaks fire is still under investigation, but officials said the Golden Pond home was most likely a victim of arson.

“It’s an eyesore, and I can’t stand to look at it,” Ms. Riser said. “Then we’ve got all these foreclosures. I know we’ve got at least four of those on this street, and who’s going to buy a house with burned houses on the street?”

Officials in both cities admit to problems in the 3,000-plus-acre community, where homes range from $350,000 to $2 million.

Some homes have been abandoned midconstruction, and unscrupulous dealings have forced some homes into foreclosure, Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke said.

According to Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc., 88 foreclosures have been posted for Lake Ridge since January, compared with 48 in the first six months of 2006. That is six times the gain for the overall Dallas-Fort Worth area, said George Roddy Sr., the company’s president.

“Postings of residential homes in the Lake Ridge area for the first half of this year have jumped 83 percent compared to the same time period last year,” he said. “Midyear’s residential foreclosure posting activity for D-FW metro increased 14 percent compared to the same time frame last year.”

But the area is far from being the “blighted” neighborhood described in some news reports, Mr. Franke said.

“It’s not blighted by any stretch of the imagination, though there are some houses that stick out like a sore thumb,” Mr. Franke said. “Our concern is, what can we as a city do to fix some of the problems?”
Permit changes

The Cedar Hill City Council acted Tuesday by amending its building ordinance to require all builders to register with the city. It also gives the city the power to refuse or revoke building permits if there are past problems with a builder, including unfinished or abandoned projects, substandard construction and permit violations.

Several North Texas cities, including Grapevine and Keller, have initiated similar ordinances. Grand Prairie requires builders to register but does not have authority to refuse a permit if building codes are met.

“It’s really worked well for us,” said Scott Williams, development director in Grapevine, where the ordinance had been in place more than a decade. “When builders apply for a permit, we give them a copy of the rules regarding revocation so they’re very cognizant of the codes. I don’t recall ever revoking a homebuilder’s registration.”

At least one builder welcomes Cedar Hill’s new rules.

Bob Way of Barclay Custom Homes said he is tired of seeing so many foreclosures and unfinished projects in Lake Ridge, where his company has been building homes for 19 years.

“It seems like any street we run up and down out there, every third home is in foreclosure,” Mr. Way said, citing one company that persuades investors to take out interim loans on its houses with the promise that people are waiting to lease. The builder walks away with their money, he said, and the investors are forced into foreclosure because the promised tenants don’t exist.

“It’s embarrassing for good, qualified builders because we get people coming in who don’t want to go out there,” Mr. Way said. “They need to shut down those companies so that maybe in the next year all that will be gone.”
Watching for violations

Code-enforcement officials in both cities also have stepped up efforts to force property owners to maintain vacant homes and lots. Steve Collins of Grand Prairie Code Enforcement said there are about a dozen properties they are keeping an eye on.

In Cedar Hill, where most of Lake Ridge’s approximately 950 homes are located, there were about 15 partially built houses earlier this year that the city considered abandoned, building official Johnny Kendro said. Most of those were the result of a builder going bankrupt, he said, and all but a few were back on track for completion by mid-May.

Mr. Kendro said he is pursuing owners of the homes with fire damage, including a $1.2 million partially burned home on Overlook Circle, to find out why they still have not been razed or repaired.

A fourth burned home on Mallard Pointe in Grand Prairie recently was demolished and is being rebuilt.

Kenneth Hollingsworth, president of the Lake Ridge Property Owners Association, said many of the area’s problems can be attributed to growing pains associated with ongoing construction.

“We’ve just got a small segment of houses that affect the overall neighborhood, but they are pretty much spread out throughout Lake Ridge,” Mr. Hollingsworth said. “We have issues like everyone else, but I think we just got a little bad publicity.”

With more than 1,200 lots still without homes on them, it will be awhile before construction ends. But Keith Thieroff, who lives next door to the fire-damaged home on Overlook Circle, believes the problems will gradually dissipate as the area builds out.

“The only problem I see if you’re in it for the long term is the crime rate might increase because I think vacant houses probably attract criminals,” Mr. Thieroff said. “But I think the [adjustable-rate mortgage] lenders have learned their lessons and will have stricter regulations, so people will get conventional loans and finish off those houses.”

Grand Prairie City Council member Ron Jensen, who represents the city’s Lake Ridge area, said he also believes the area will see an end to the problems.

“It’s going to have to run its course and let the financial marketplace take care of itself, but it will swing around,” Mr. Jensen said.

Source:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/classifieds/news/homecenter/realestate/stories/DN-lakeridge_16met.ART.West.Edition1.4383ee1.html