The “owners” of those homes should be responsible for them. By owners I mean the banks – another posting on Piggington’s a while back posted about a community that was going to hold the banks responsible for the upkeep on their foreclosures or not be allowed to forclose on any more houses.
Banks (or mortgage companies) are really the owners of a home until it is paid off – maybe if they took that to heart when they gave out the loans they’d be more careful who they lent their homes to.