Nearly six months after a Kettering townhouse was set ablaze, the wind still blows roof debris and the smell of fire.

Fred Young, 65, who lives on the same street as the charred home, on Castleton Terrace, said he, like other neighbors, mows the grass and picks up the roof debris in an effort to maintain his property value and keep his neighborhood looking ship-shape.

Responsibility for the care of foreclosed and abandoned homes often gets tossed between homeowners and banks, and neighbors and the county are stuck dealing with a house in limbo until it becomes a house for sale.

The end-unit townhouse caught fire Jan. 29 after being vacant and boarded up for nearly 15 years, causing $80,000 in damage. The fire was ruled arson and remains under investigation, said Acting Major Scott Hoglander, commander for the Prince George's County Fire Marshal's Office.

Thomas Matzen, the deputy director of the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources, said this property has been issued many violations since 2004. In March, the property was condemned, and the DER issued a violation to its owner.

On Monday, the DER was contacted by the property owners' attorney stating that a rehabilitation permit will be acquired no later than Aug. 1 and that repairs will be made to the house to return it to a livable state.

According to online records for the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation for Prince George's County, the home is owned by Natalie and Robert Johnson. But neighbors said Robert Johnson died 14 years ago and that his widow hasn't sold the property or lived there since then.

The state tax records for the vacant house list a Largo address for Natalie Johnson. The phone number listed for the address was not in service Monday.

Property owners are responsible for maintenance, but after a 10-day warning the DER cuts grass and weeds that are taller than 12 inches and cleans debris under the county's Clean Lot law, and then the department bills the owners through a tax lien. This does not include raking leaves and shoveling snow and isn't applicable to properties in municipalities.

Matzen said the DER currently has about 200 properties in the county that require grass cutting and debris removal. Nearly 20 properties are tackled five days a week, weather permitting.

A two-story home on Herrington Drive in Kettering also remains charred from an April 1 fire ruled as arson that caused $200,000 in damage.

Nearly four months later, boarded up windows and broken glass remain, and "no trespassing" signs adorn the chain-link fence and blackened front door.

Matzen said the property, which is uninhabitable, has been issued violations for fire damage, among other things, and that the DER is currently monitoring the property.

Online records list Karen Bivins as the property owner. An alternative address is not listed and no phone number was listed.

Bivins' next door neighbor, who declined to give his name, said a contractor paid for by a neighborhood association cuts the grass. On Monday, the grass was cut short and the yard appeared litter-free.

The neighbor said he was unsure whether other neighbors were tending to the yard. Neighbors were not home at the time for comment.

Another home on Herrington Drive was foreclosed in the fall but is on its way to again being inhabited — and off the county's hands.

Matzen said that in the past, a violation was issued to the property owner for a trash violation and that currently a Clean Lot law request is being processed to send contract workers to tend to the lawn.

But taxation records show the home was bought in April, and a neighbor who lives across the street said Monday she has seen carpenters doing work at the house.

Jessica Abu, 39, said she is glad the house has been bought.

"We hope and pray," she said.

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

The Prince George's County

Department of Environmental Resources urges county residents to report complaints of tall grass or dumping at dercares@co.pg.md.us.