When a home was foreclosed upon on North Wayneport Road in the Town of Macedon, an enterprising squatter thought he could justify his take-over of the property by simply paying the back taxes at the county level and  with paperwork in hand, begin making massive renovations at the house, even though he was not the owner on the deed.

Unfortunately, for the would-be squatter, his journey into the game was put to a stop when Town Engineer/Building Inspector Scott Allen alerted him to the fact that he failed to get the proper permits for electrical and plumbing projects. The only way he could obtain the necessary permits was if he was the owner. 

In other scenarios, the owners of old abandoned and decaying mobile homes entice potential owners with the special adage to "fix-up and own" the trailer homes, with little, or nothing down. All the now-excited customer has to do is begin paying the lot fees and get to work.

According to Allen, once the resident undertakes on the task, they soon find out that the old, abandoned trailer homes are beyond repair, and permits would probably no longer issued to do any repair work to bring them up to code.  Currently, there are nine mobile homes tagged with the large red X signs at the Meadowview Trailer Park at 2384 Route 350, meaning they do not meet the towns standards for habitable occupation and never will. Currently there are six mobile homes at the Pinewood Mobile Home park on Wayneport Road, wearing the large X placard. 

In another case, a home was deemed unlivable at 2630 Daansen Road. At the time, animals were seized and removed from the structure. Inside, the house had significant animal waste  causing damage and unsanitary condition and extreme disrepair. The home has continued  to be tagged, and has  been monitored by the Town since 2009.

In yet another case, a house on Route 350 in Macedon was tagged recently after the wners bought it in a County tax auction several years ago. They have been slowly attempting to repair the old house, but it is nowhere near acceptable as a residence, with massive work still to be done to bring it into code.

Currently, 30+ houses throughout the town have been posted due to fires or rundown/unlivable conditions. Scott Allen said Macedon is not unique for the problem and every town and village in the county has similar problems with houses and buildings and constant attention is required.