Evicted Land O' Lakes family leaves a mess

Even after Jose Fracica's cleaning crew had taken one load to the dump, the pile of rain-soaked clothes, batteries, a Christmas tree, tires, toys, linens, mattresses and other items was massive.

As temperatures rose into the 90s Friday, flies swarmed around the possessions left by a family evicted from a home at 24908 Portofino Drive in the Oak Grove community off County Line Road. Ants scampered around the driveway and a smoke alarm sounded from beneath a pile of debris.

Vanessa Wudarsky, who lives next door to the house, said the smell coming from the pile, which extended around the side of the house to the backyard, was horrible and that cockroaches had made their way to her garage. She said a family had lived in the house about a year and was evicted on Monday.

"They're infested with roaches," Wudarsky said. "The people who were cleaning won't go inside until it's fumigated."

For a while, Wudarsky and other neighbors wondered what would be done about the stinking mess. She said she called the community's homeowners association, which then called the Pasco County Code Compliance Division.

Debra Zampetti, the county's zoning code compliance administrator, said it is the homeowner's responsibility to clean up any mess left by an evicted renter, or when a home is foreclosed.

Although tough economic times have made scenes such as the one outside the Oak Grove home more common, Zampetti said she knows of only a few extreme instances in recent years where people have left a mess that wasn't cleaned up in a timely manner.

In one case, she said, the homeowner would not or could not pay to have a mess cleaned.

"In that instance, the HOA got involved and got a Dumpster, and everybody (in the neighborhood) contributed and got rid of" the mess, she said. "That happened within the last year. It wasn't big-ticket items, just household stuff."

For the county to get involved, someone must lodge a complaint.

"We basically take them through the system," Zampetti said. "We issue a warning to homeowner or the renter, or both. You'd think with all the foreclosures that we would see more of this, but we've only run into the issue a couple times. The goods are usually picked over and there's not a lot left, so it's never been a big issue."

Not until the renters were evicted from the Portofino Drive residence on Monday, that is.

All week, passers-by got to view clothing, wigs, mirrors, women's shoes, cans and a DVD - "Reflections In A Golden Eye," starring Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor - as the pile of items got rain-soaked, then warped by the blistering heat.

In the backyard were piles of cinderblocks, a highchair, mop bucket, a piece of exercise equipment called a Bun & Thigh Roller, and more cans, clothes and bugs.

Fracica, who owns J.F. Services, said he had never seen a bigger eviction or foreclosure-related mess.

"Most of the time people come back to get their things," he said. "But on this one, I don't know why they didn't come back. There were good clothes and everything. When we got there it was a big mess with crates everywhere, clothes everywhere, and all kinds of stuff from around the house.

"The pest guy will have to get inside to fumigate for the roaches. This was one of the worst I've seen because of the roaches inside," he said.

Homeowner Maria Gonzalez said she paid Fracica to clean up the mess because she knew neighbors were upset. On Friday afternoon, she wasn't sure what the bill would be. She said she tried to work with the renters.

"But they wouldn't leave or pay rent," she said. "We did what we could with them, because it's hard times for everybody. We gave them a few opportunities, but they still never paid or left, and they didn't keep up the property. I had to call the sheriff's office to come and take all of their belongings outside.

"We had to do that and change the locks, and secure the place. I feel we've acted responsibly, legally and morally. I just didn't want this to hurt the neighbors."