Community Corner

Carol Ott, Blogger Behind 'Baltimore Slumlord Watch,' Faces Vandalism Lawsuits

The author of a blog that catalogs vacant Baltimore properties is now facing lawsuits tied to two of the properties.

Carol Ott, the blogger behind Baltimore Slumlord Watch, is being sued by two trusts that claim she hired graffiti artists to vandalize blighted properties, reports ABC2news.com.

Ott, who was recently featured in The Atlantic for her efforts to fight urban blight, denies the claims made in the lawsuit, telling ABC2 she simply provided background information on properties and did not direct anyone to take action. The vandals painted murals on the properties.

The lawsuits are related to murals placed at 4727 Old York Road and 539 North Longwood Street in Baltimore. Each claims $2,500 in damages, what it would take to paint the properties, the TV station says.

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Ott runs the website dedicated to documenting every abandoned property in Baltimore, says The Atlantic. She’s also the director of a new organization called Housing Policy Watch.

Baltimore officials say the city has 16,000 abandoned properties, but the actual number may be twice that, the magazine says.

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An Atlantic Video team spent a day on the streets of West Baltimore with Ott. “I have no grand illusion of myself coming in and saving neighborhoods, that’s ridiculous,” she told the magazine. “But I really need to now see this to some sort of end.”

Check out Atlantic Video’s footage of Baltimore blogger Carol Ott.


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