WEST PALM BEACH, FL --With thousands of Palm Beach County homes still in foreclosure, blighted and unsanitary properties continue to plague neighborhoods.
West Palm Beach homeowner Adelfina Blas is repulsed as she looks over the fence into the yard next door.
The pool has sat dirty for more than six months. It's become a haven for mosquitoes, huge frogs and snakes.
"It's disgusting," Blas said. "It's not sanitary to live near this."
Blas says she and her neighbor are constantly attacked by mosquitoes swarming from the standing water and her neighbor had an allergic reaction to the bites.
The creatures are also making their way into the home.
Blas says last week a snake slithered through the fence, through the open sliding glass door and into the bedroom.
Blas says she's contacted everyone from the City of West Palm Beach to Mosquito Control.
"I've been calling all the people and they don't do anything," Blas said. "They told my husband to clean it. My husband says it's not his house to clean."
The home at 939 West Lakewood has been in foreclosure for close to a year.
Peter Robbins with the City of West Palm Beach says the city is working overtime to keep vacant homes, like the one next to the Blas house, sanitary.
"This is a property that we are very familiar with," Robbins said. "We've cited them for a number of violations."
The grass has been cut at this particular home and Blas says it's been sprayed for mosquitoes, but it doesn't help.
Robbins says a hearing is scheduled next month with the bank that owns the home to discuss taking action about the pool.
"It's tough because there are so many foreclosed homes out there," he said.
West Palm Beach has also set up a hotline for residents to call with concerns about blighted and unsanitary homes.
Robbins says last month the city applied for more than 40 million dollars in stimulus money and a large chunk of the money is intended to purchase, repair and renovate foreclosed homes.
For Blas, that can't happen soon enough.
"Somebody has to do something," she said.
