It used to be a problem that plagued few neighborhoods outside older urban communities, but now abandoned and all-but-abandoned homes can be found everywhere. If you live near one, you know that an unmowed lawn can be the least of the troubles. So what do you do?

Bankrate.com suggests five rules: Research local laws to see what constitutes a violation. Call your local government if any violations exist. Contact the homeowner directly to see if he, she or it (if a bank) will take care of the problems or at least give neighbors permission to do so. Don't do anything to the property if you don't have permission (that's trespassing). And ask the real estate agent for help if the home is listed.

Rule No. 4 -- no trespassing -- might seem silly to a neighbor who can't see why anyone would mind if he cuts the lawn for free. And certainly people have been doing just that. But Bankrate.com points out that "if you mow the lawn and mistakenly cut a cable, you could be liable." Something to think about, in any case.

Some folks are following the universal rule about squeaky wheels and grease.

At LenderOffender, neighbors post complaints and photos about bank-owned properties in the hopes of shaming lenders into doing something. (I could find only one from Maryland, involving a house in the Eastern Shore community of Greensboro. A neighbor, noting that the former owners keep coming back to dump garbage, says: "The worst thing about this is when I look out of any window in the back of my house all I see is this trashed house that was a very nice house at one point and I can't do anything about it.")

There's SeeClickFix, a forum for people to note neighborhoods problems of all sorts, from trash dumping (attention Greensboro resident) to potholes.

And, of course, there's Baltimore Slumlord Watch, a local blog about vacant properties and their owners. It names names and encourages calls to the City Council.

Do you have one or more problematic vacant homes near you? Have you found some solutions?

Sometimes Wonk readers will email me directly and say, "Hey, I'd like to see a discussion about such-and-such, because I think it's interesting/important/controversial, and here's what I think about it." My go-to response is, "All right -- I'll let you start."

Here's the conversation starter offered by Mike B.:

 

I've been contemplating moving from the distant burbs of DC to Baltimore for some time, but keep running smack dab into the wall of facts -- my income tax rate would go up by more than 4%, my real estate tax would be close to double what I would pay here, and the risk of crime goes up. It makes me think ... what exactly would it take to renovate a city? To bring it back to life where everyone wants to live there and no one feels like moving there could be a big financial mistake. I'd like to hear some suggestions from bloggers.

I think phasing out the ground rental issue definitely helps. As does having sports teams and mass transit. But fundamentally there are more expenses and not enough sources of revenue. So what to do? What do readers suggest?

I know you have your own opinions. Discuss away.