HOUSTON — An elderly couple in northwest Houston is dealing with a nuisance property that's causing problems at their home.
With a lawn that looks like a forest, a long-abandoned house on Granite Street not far from 290 is a breeding ground for snakes and rats.
Bobbie Jo Bonneau has lived in the neighborhood just off the Northwest Freeway at West 43rd Street since 1988. She said she's been dealing with the abandoned property next door since Katrina. She said the overgrown Texas ragweed has been causing major problems.
"My husband and I are both allergic to the ragweed. We are taking so many antihistamines that we have to go to the doctor once a month," she said.
It's not just the overgrown weeds, though. Bonneau said snakes and rats breed on their neighbor's property and inevitably make their way over to her house. She said she has called the city and inspectors to come out to write violations but nothing ever changes.
"I was actually thinking about moving away, just giving up and moving," she said.
The question is: Who owns the property? A quick search on the Harris County Appraisal District website showed the owner as a man named Richard Pfirman. But that's not all ... it turns out that he also owns nearly 300 other properties in the county and about 55 more in Montgomery County.
Searches showed that Pfirman operates a company called "All American Properties," which has several addresses and phone numbers listed. After calling all the listed numbers and visiting every listed office address as well as Pfirman's home address, KHOU 11 reporter Trason Bragg finally got a call back from a man claiming to be Pfirman.
Over the phone, he said that after running his business for many years, he fell ill and fell behind on keeping up with all of his properties.
He did say he promised to have the property on Granite Lane cleaned up by Monday.
As the KHOU 11 crew stood outside Pfirman's house, which was covered in court summons, and talked to him on the phone, he said he was too ill to come outside to speak on camera.
Bonneau said she's hopeful that the jungle on Granite Street will actually be cleaned up soon.