Saturday’s storms turned terrifying for one St. Louis homeowner when bricks from a city-owned vacant house crashed through her wall and into her bathroom, missing her by what sounds like inches.
The longtime resident, who says the home has been in her family for generations, walked into a scene of chaos: roughly 30 to 40 bricks scattered across her bathroom and bedroom, shards of glass everywhere, and part of the neighboring structure visibly caved in. Neighbors say debris and wood now sit wedged between the two houses and blame years of neglect for letting the place get this dangerous.
As reported by First Alert 4, homeowner Lisa Conrod said she counted about 30 to 40 bricks in the bathroom and summed up the close call with a grim bit of honesty: “That would have been me on that toilet.” The storm also shattered two windows and left the neighboring building partially collapsed, according to the station. Property records reviewed by the outlet show the house went into foreclosure in 2011 and was sold again in 2021 in a sale marked “never on open market.”
City land bank’s role
According to the Land Reutilization Authority, the agency oversees stewardship, stabilization and demolition programs for city-owned homes and lots. Those efforts are supposed to flag the most dangerous structures for repair or removal while the agency looks for buyers or developers for properties that can still be saved. The LRA says it is trying to balance public safety with reuse, though residents complain the wheels often turn too slowly.
Neighbors say warnings went unheeded
Conrod told reporters she has spent the past year calling city officials about the neighboring property. She says that, until the collapse, all she saw in response were boards and warning notices. City records reviewed by First Alert 4 show repeated complaints tied to the LRA-owned lot going back more than a decade. After the station started asking questions, Conrod said fresh boards and caution tape appeared at the property the very next morning.
Legal options for homeowners
The city land bank says homeowners whose property is damaged by LRA-owned buildings can seek compensation by going through their own insurer, which may then work with the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund (MOPERM). Legal decisions in Missouri have outlined MOPERM’s function as a risk pool for public entities and clarified how sovereign immunity applies to claims against it, according to a Missouri Court of Appeals decision. In practice, that means insurance procedures and filings can heavily influence if, when and how residents get paid after damage linked to public properties.
What comes next
The LRA says it has issued emergency work orders to secure hazardous structures, and neighbors say they plan to keep a close eye on whether those promised fixes actually materialize. For Conrod and others living next to land-bank houses, the weekend collapse is a stark reminder that a long-neglected property next door can go from eyesore to active threat in a single storm.
