Derelict vacant homes and illegal dumping are among the highest complaints from Windsor residents who call the city's 311 service.
Both issues came to light in an astonishing video shared with CTV Windsor.
It shows a pickup truck with a large dumpster backing up to a boarded-up home at 658 Caron Ave. The unidentified person than proceeds to dump the garbage in front of the garage.
"It contains feces, diapers, you can see all the flies around it," says neighbour Waseem Hussein, who wore a surgical mask during the CTV News interview because he says the smell from the garbage is unbearable.
The derelict home may be boarded up, but there are still holes throughout the building and most of the windows are open to the elements.
Neighbours claim it is filled with rats and raccoons, and even homeless people.
April Kennedy says the home has been this way for 11 years.
"This is the worst it's ever been, because of the fire that took place, it'll be three years in October," adds Kennedy.
CTV News has learned the home belongs to Jadwiga Otmar, and the city's building department took the owner to court and issued an order for repair on April 2, 2019.
CTV News tried contacting Otmar on Wednesday without a reply. A reporter also went to another home where Otmar is listed as the registered owner, and there was no response.
Both Hussein and Kennedy say they understand the city's hands are tied because the owner has rights.
But they hope the video is the proof the city needs to finally solve their neighbourhood crisis.
CTV News also spoke with Rob Vani, the city's manager of inspections in the building department. He says the city started a tender proposal last month to demolish the home, where the owner would be charged the total cost.
He hopes 658 Caron Ave. will be gone by the end of the summer.
