CLEVELAND, Texas – A San Jacinto County property owner said he’s spent thousands on maintaining the abandoned property next door.
Michael Klekar reached out to the Click2Houston Help Desk for assistance, hoping to resolve the situation.
“The property next door has been abandoned for at least six or seven years,” Klekar explained. “Trees keep falling onto my property, and I have to clean them up at my own expense. I’d like to take over the property, but I’ve hit a dead end.”
San Jacinto County Tax Assessor Betty Davis confirmed that the Cleveland property owner, whose home sits at the corner of Coker Loop and Campbell Acres Road, is delinquent on property taxes.
“The account is delinquent for two years with partial payments,” Davis told KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun in a phone interview. “The owner made some tax payments for previous years. But if the taxes for 2024 aren’t paid by July 1st, the matter will be turned over to the attorney’s office.”
Davis added that the property owner owes less than $600 in back taxes.
“The trees are rotting, and they could fall onto my property and power lines,” Klekar continued.
County Judge Fritz Faulkner explained that, unlike other municipalities, the county cannot step in and clean up the property as Klekar requests.
“If the property owner continues to fall behind on taxes, the tax office will eventually hire a law firm to handle the situation,” Faulkner said. “The law firm may not file a tax suit until the amount owed reaches a certain threshold. It could also depend on how many years the taxes are overdue. The tax collector’s office sets these parameters.”
RILWAN: How much do you think you’ve spent since you’ve lived here on dealing with that property?
MICHAEL KLEKAR: I’ve spent several thousand dollars. Maybe $3,000 or $4000, maybe more.
RILWAN: Why did you spend all of that?
MICHAEL KLEKAR: Well, to protect my property from following trees, trying to keep my property clean. My greatest expense is a tree treatment because they’re not, they’re not cheap anymore and they’re busy. So, I have to make time and scandal happen whenever they can come out.
RILWAN: When you scheduled that [tree treatment] was the tree falling or it was a dead tree, and were you concerned about it falling?
MICHAEL KLEKAR: I was concerned like the light company was concerned because they didn’t know if it was going to fall this way into the street and damage the line. This line takes care of the whole neighborhood. And so with them coming out and trimming it wasn’t to my satisfaction, so I had to spend money to get it cut down as far as I could call it. And it’s just an experience that, you know, I really can’t afford.
A detective sergeant with the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office tells KPRC 2 patrol deputies will conduct extra patrols. However, they recommend neighbors file a complaint with the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1.
“That would be so nice to have somebody come out and take care of this place,” Klekar said. “That would be incredible. I would love for them to come out and do something with it.”
