OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (WDAF) – A dilapidated house owned by a former Kansas City Chiefs player has finally been sold in a foreclosure sale after years of complaints from neighbors.
WDAF first reported on problems with the house, located at 8006 W. 121st Terrace, two years ago.
At that time, there were multiple holes in the roof, and a family of raccoons appeared to be living inside, among other issues. Plus the backyard deck was falling apart, and the yard was overgrown.
The home is owned by Tony Richardson, an NFL running back, known affectionately as T-Rich by fans. Richardson hadn’t lived in the home for more than a decade and was renting it out until a few years ago when the tenant left and the raccoons moved in.
Calls to Richardson from both neighbors and the city of Overland Park to fix code violations on the property were mostly ignored. In addition, Richardson owed $30,000 in back taxes on the property. (He also owed another $300,000 to the IRS.)
Overland Park City Councilman Faris Farissati pledged his help to the neighborhood after Nexstar’s WDAF aired a story on the neighborhood eyesore. He made sure the city did repairs to the property, sending the bill to Richardson, to keep neighbors happy.
He also urged the county to start foreclosure proceedings since more than five years in property taxes had not been paid.
The house was sold this month in a tax sale on the courthouse steps for $278,000. That’s about $100,000 below the value of many of the neighboring houses, although those houses probably don’t have raccoons living inside.
“I don’t know who bought it, but whomever it is will have good fortune with it, I believe,” Farissati said. “It’s a good neighborhood.”
As for Richardson, he stopped responding to requests for comment more than a year ago.