BluegrassForeclosure.com

The problem of abandoned homes worsened from 2000 to 2010, the records show, as foreclosures spiked and banks and investors took control of distressed property. During that period in Jefferson County, vacancies climbed from 6 percent to more than 8 percent, according to the census. And the number of court-ordered foreclosures in Jefferson County has nearly doubled since 2006 to 5,229 last year.

But more than three years after the housing market’s collapse, metro government’s efforts to deal with the problem have stagnated, if not weakened, compared with a decade ago, according to a Courier-Journal review.

Beginning in 2003, city officials stopped foreclosing on abandoned homes because of costs associated with the lawsuits. As a result, the Louisville-Jefferson County Landbank — a clearinghouse for recycling unwanted property — has added one new parcel for every six it has sold over the past eight years and now takes on only donated land.

The city now boards up or knocks down only the worst structures without any long-term solution. That frequently leaves an empty lot that must be mowed at the public’s expense.  Read more from Courier-Journal.