San Diego's City Attorney announced Friday that her office had obtained a court-ordered receivership for a home in Clairemont owned by a hoarder.
The home on Mount Alvarez Avenue is 63 years old and is owned by Kevin Casey, according to the city attorney's office. City officials say he came into the property after inheriting it from his mother and grandmother back in 1992. The condition of the property back then is not known, but the city attorney's office said that in recent years, it "has fallen badly into disrepair and poses a health and safety threat to the community."
Part of that community, unfortunately for parents and students at the Riley School, is a K-8 campus that offers "intensive mental health support for students with social emotional challenges requiring a small, therapeutic settings" and sits right next door.
This being San Diego, of course, even an eyesore with a yard full of trash and disabled vehicles is still valuable for the land it sits on. In fact, according to Zillow, the Clairemont house is worth nearly a million dollars, though it seems likely that estimate was conceived by AI or an algorithm and not by somebody actually looking at photos of the property.
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Just how bad are things at 3699 Mount Alvarez Ave.? Well, according to an Environmental Services Code Compliance entry on the Get It Done app page, "Homeless people are stopping by with full carts and then emptying them at the house." In an attached photo, at least three shopping carts from three different retailers are visible parked next to a fence at what appears to be the Riley School.
“Homeowners are responsible for maintaining their properties,” said City Attorney Mara W. Elliott in a news release issued on Friday. “In this case, the home owned by Mr. Casey has become an intolerable threat to the health and safety of his neighbors and the children who attend a nearby school, which is why we have taken the dramatic step of intervening today. I want the Clairemont community to know that help is on the way thanks to the Court’s ruling.”
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The city had asked and was approved to have the court appoint a receiver for the home who would supervise a cleanup of the property and/or the home's demolition, if necessary. It seems clear there was a fire at some point at the house, since venting holes that firefighters typically cut in a roof are clearly visible.
The city is also pursuing compensation for investigative costs as well as for police and fire department calls to the house.
