BALTIMORE — Baltimore City's battle with blight is back and forth, blow for blow.
While last year, 1,300 properties were rehabbed and received use and occupancy, 1,100 more became vacant.
One city councilwoman is taking her own steps to make progress against Baltimore's blight battle.
The row of houses, that're no longer homes, make up what used to feel like paradise for Pauline Charles.
"The rose bushes, the flowers, the neighbors, all basically a community of families," Charles recalled.
Over the last 40 years, slowly there were less flowers, less families and more vacant properties.
RELATED: Baltimore's vacant home crisis could cost $7.5 billion to solve
"I recently shared that we can't go five to six houses in any direction without it being a vacant property," Charles noted.
Quinton McDaniels, another long-time homeowner, is also sandwiched in frustration.
"I got two houses on both sides that're empty," he told WMAR-2 News.
The properties he's called out are empty and on their way onto a new list.
"Looking at this to see what we can put into in-rem and if there's anything else unusual," explained District 14 Councilwoman Odette Ramos.
Ramos is going block by block in the Darley Park neighborhood in her district, looking at what the data says and doesn't say about the vacant properties.
"So, this one would be eligible for overturn. Yeah, this one would be eligible for in-rem immediately, but I want to look at it," said Ramos.
Her list shows the property, it's address, listed value, and total amount of liens assessed to the property to determine if they're eligible for 'judicial in-rem foreclosure.'
This happens if a property's liens exceed its value, the city forecloses on those liens and takes ownership of the property.
"1413 Cliffview Avenue. It's got $30,000 worth of liens on it and it's worth $5,000, so that is an automatic eligible for in-rem property as well," Ramos shared.
So, the owner of this particular house, for example, at the very least won't be caught off guard.
Ramos is quite literally taking the steps to address the individual vacant properties though they're the first steps of many.
"Here's what's key. We have to do this for an entire neighborhood because if we just do one, nobody's going to buy this," she said.
Foreclosing on the blight, selling them, and turning them back into viable homes is going to take time.
Luckily, Charles doesn't mind waiting.
"It's not too late. It's never too late no no," she expressed.
Information about the city's judicial in-rem foreclosure process can be found here.
