Nancy Barrett with the Code Enforcement office says there are roughly 600 vacant homes in Johnstown that they have on file. Some of them are on, or near, Menoher Boulevard in the city. The problem is there's not much the city can do to get rid of these homes. They've only found owners for half of them. It costs the owners $500, paid to the city, to keep their home empty. The city contacts the owners through tax information and sends notices. However that doesn't guarantee a response.

Barrett tells Channel 6 News, "[Homeowners are] out of state, they may be in Nursing homes, some of the them are deceased. If they're deceased than it's property that just sits there. If they're out of state, we file charges.

There are also about 450 homes in the city that could be condemned.

Barrett says, "We just don't have the right to go out and destroy and tear down a house. What if you came back 5 years from now and said, Hey, that house was worth $300,000 and you just tore it down.

That means empty homes in Johnstown could still be around years from now unless the owner agrees to have their home taken down.