Las Cruces woman says she can’t sell home because of eyesore from backyard

A Las Cruces woman says she’s been trying to sell her home for months but an eyesore from her backyard is causing potential buyers to run the other way.

From Letty Haney’s backyard, she sees appliances, overgrown weeds and an inoperable car. Haney says she’s been trying to sell her home for the past four months, but as soon as a potential buyer sees the view from the backyard, they automatically turn the other way. She’s already lowered her asking price by $5,000. Haney says the city has already cited her neighbor twice for the issue, but they never showed up in court.

“I have no ill will for them, I just want them to clean their yard so we can sell our house,” Haney said.

ABC-7 spoke to one of the family members at the home Monday. They said they had no idea they had to attend court and would try to fix the problem and pick up their belongings as soon as possible.

Las Cruces codes officer Chris Bigelow tells ABC-7 failing to show up to court will result in a bench warrant for the homeowner. Bigelow says they see this type of problem all the time and the easiest way to avoid problems, is by being compliant the first time around.

“We want compliance. We’d rather not have to go through the courts,” Bigelow said.

Bigelow says homeowners who don’t show up to court will have a bench warrant against them. If they don’t clean up, they may have to pay a fine of up to $500 and could potentially face up to 90 days in jail.