Vacant home, site of fire, a longtime nuisance for East Huntingdon neighbors

For two years, squatters in an abandoned home just outside Scottdale have been a nuisance to neighbors.

Wednesday morning, the home along Mt. Pleasant Road in East Huntingdon caught fire.

“The fire was a blessing. It’s just too bad it didn’t burn more,” one of the neighbors said.

“I hope this gets them out of there,” another said.

East Huntingdon officials said they share the neighbors’ frustration.

Township secretary-treasurer Alexandria Torock said she has been unsuccessful in repeated attempts, including another try Thursday morning, to contact the mortgage company that bought the house at sheriff’s sale last year.

“Our attorney has tried to reach out to them, and there has been no correspondence back,” she said.

Fire Chief Brian Kite said the house poses a major safety concern, “especially now that there’s been a fire involved in it and now you begin to worry about the safety of people being in it.”

No one was hurt in the 7 a.m. fire that started in the basement and was quickly extinguished. A state police fire marshal was investigating the cause. A brush fire a few hours later behind the house also was extinguished, Kite said.

A mortgage foreclosure action filed in October 2015 showed payments hadn’t been made since November 2014 totaling about $37,000 in principal and interest, according to a civil court filing in Westmoreland County.

The property was sold at sheriff sale for $2,070.99 in July 2022 to Nationstar Mortgage which also does business as Mr. Cooper. Attempts to reach Mr. Cooper media relations staff by phone and email Thursday were unsuccessful.

Neighbors who didn’t want to be identified told the Trib noise from the squatters often keeps them up at night.

“They’ll just sit there and rev up their cars with no exhaust on them,” one neighbor said.

“They do it all night long,” another neighbor agreed.

In the past, squatters have left their vehicles parked on the road and wander aimlessly on it, sometimes sitting down as traffic passes.

The squatters were back Wednesday night, neighbors said, and state police were called. East Huntingdon firefighters boarded the home up Thursday. The department had not released the scene after the fire while it remains under investigation, Kite said.

In this type of situation, the township doesn’t have much leverage.

Officials can’t legally go onto the property and demolish it, Torock said. Taking the mortgage company to court over ordinance violations would just prolong the process, and if it hasn’t responded to the township to address complaints, it’s unlikely getting a judge involved would improve matters, she said. There are no back taxes owed.

“We are trying to take every legal route possible to get in touch with the mortgage company,” she said. “We hope to get the problem resolved as soon as possible.”

In the meantime, Kite said he wouldn’t be surprised if boarding up the house failed to deter the squatters.

“The stairwell’s burned out; it should be a condemned building,” he said. “Something needs to be done. I am in full agreeance with the neighbors.”