WA home notorious for fights, dog abuse and drugs cleared

Name: Everett, WA home notorious for fights, dog abuse and drugs cleared
Uploaded: 2025-04-03T17:55:13-07:00
Description: A derelict property in Everett, notorious for fights and animal abuse, tormented neighbors for years. Fox 13’s AJ Janavel reveals why city officials struggled to act and how new resources aim to prevent future issues.

Everett, WA home notorious for fights, dog abuse and drugs cleared

A derelict property in Everett, notorious for fights and animal abuse, tormented neighbors for years. Fox 13’s AJ Janavel reveals why city officials struggled to act and how new resources aim to prevent future issues.

EVERETT, Wash. - A derelict property in Everett tormented a neighborhood for years, with police responding more than a dozen times for fights, fires, and drug use.

According to officials, multiple people were living in the home since 2022 without water.

City officials were aware of the issues for months, but ran into red tape and roadblocks trying to take action.

Officials said they were finally able to clear the property out in February, thanks to the owner's assistance.

Nuisance home in Everett disturbs neighbors

What they're saying:

"I wasn’t really wanting to leave my house, like, just to walk around the neighborhood like I used to," said one neighbor who didn’t want to use their name.

People who lived near the home said they did not feel safe, and did not know who to call to fix the problem.

Everett Police said in a few months they had responded to the south Everett property 16 different times. Investigators said they responded to calls for fights, drug use, welfare checks, and burning trash.

Police said vehicles were accumulating around the property and people were sleeping in tents. Investigators said they removed a dog from the property that tested positive for meth.

Everett Police reported that social workers visited the home three separate times to offer services.

The other side:

In April 2024, Everett’s code enforcement department was notified by police of the issues at the home.

"We understood their frustration, because police and fire had been called there a ridiculous amount of times," said Kelsey Albertson.

Albertson is a code enforcement supervisor with the City of Everett.

She tells FOX 13 Seattle that the property was condemned in June 2024. However, that did not stop the issues.

Albertson tells FOX 13 Seattle the biggest roadblock to fixing the problem was finding the owner of the home.

"We can’t remove anyone without permission of the owner, and we don’t want to go to the property and remove them without the ability to board it, because they’re just going to come back," said Albertson.

It took months to track down the actual owner of the property, Albertson said. She tells FOX 13 Seattle the owner was dealing with personal issues and unable to get the property under control.

The owner agreed to allow the city to go onto the property and clear out the trash and board up the property.

Albertson tells FOX 13 Seattle the property now has a new owner.

What you can do:

According to police, the property had no running water and multiple people squatting since 2022. One neighbor told FOX 13 Seattle that even though the house was impacting their lives, they did not report it.

"If you have a nuisance property, you can definitely report it," said Albertson.

You can file complaints on the app "SeeClickFix," or you can go to the city's website and file a report.

"If they report it to us, we’ll immediately start our process," said Albertson.

The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter AJ Janavel.