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Unraked leaves in the front yard, a bright orange notice on the front door and plywood covering the windows sets a Kettering split-level home apart from the other homes on the quiet street. This Herrington Drive home neighbors drive by every day is a stark reminder that the area is home to some of the highest foreclosure rates in Prince George's County.

The home, at 97 Herrington Drive, was foreclosed in the fall and remains vacant.

Herrington Drive resident Robert Johnson, who lives down the street from the vacant home, said the original owners sold the home more than two years ago. Since then, the home has had two different owners.

The most recent homeowners "just left—it's like they walked away from it," Johnson said. "The owners stayed for a minute and left it."

Johnson said the house has likely hurt property values for homeowners trying to sell.

"It's an eyesore for the community. When you drive by you just see plywood—it kinda reminds you of a distressed area in the city."

The Kettering community, under Upper Marlboro ZIP code 20774, Lanham ZIP code 20706 and Glenn Dale ZIP code 20769 are all labeled as having a "severe" foreclosure index during the third quarter of 2008 by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's report on state property foreclosures. The index measures the extent to which a community's foreclosure rate exceeds or falls short of the average foreclosure rate.

The department did not have information at the ZIP code level for the third quarter of 2007.

Prince George's County had the highest number of property foreclosures in the state during the third quarters of both 2008 and 2007, making up about 35 percent of all Maryland foreclosures during the 2008 period and about 24 percent of statewide foreclosures during the 2007 period.

"This speaks for the severity of the problem in Prince George's County," said Massoud Ahmadi, DHCD's director of research and planning.

Johnson said his biggest concern is whether the Herrington Drive house is properly secured, and he has called police after an unlocked garage door enabled children to play with saws in the garage and start chemical fires in the driveway.

The county's Department of Environmental Resources requires owners to secure the house. If a home is found open and vacant, a violation notice and/or civil citation can be issued, requiring the property owner to take action, said Carol Terry, a DER spokeswoman. If there is an immediate hazard, the department will board up the house without due process to the property owners.

Phil Lee, president of the Kettering Civic Federation, said the federation and Kettering homeowners associations face the challenging problem of identifying who is responsible for the security and maintenance of foreclosed homes.

"In some cases, the house has been on the market for two years and the property has changed hands within the banking system, [creating a] ghost trail—you can't find out who owns the property," he said.

Property owners are responsible for property maintenance, but the DER can cut grass and clean the property through the county's Clean Lot law and then bill the owners through a tax lien, Terry said. Raking leaves and shoveling snow are not included.

E-mail Liz Skalski at eskalski@gazette.net.