A man trying to preserve a house got into a battle with Baltimore City and now has a court-ordered deadline to sell. The 11 News I-Team first reported Joseph Kropfeld's story in February. He called his fight with the city a land grab. Now, he has to sell his house or let it go. The rehabilitation progress is apparently not moving swift enough to allow Kropfeld to keep a house on Old York Road in Waverly.

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A man trying to preserve a house got into a battle with Baltimore City and now has a court-ordered deadline to sell.The 11 News I-Team first reported Joseph Kropfeld's story in February. He called his fight with the city a land grab. Now, he has to sell his house or let it go.The rehabilitation progress is apparently not moving swift enough to allow Kropfeld to keep a house on Old York Road in Waverly."It's a continuous work in progress," Kropfeld said.A court order gives him three months to sell the house. No sale means he must turn it over to Baltimore City for auction."This is an old house. They could find 1,000 things wrong with it. It's an antique," Kropfeld said.Kropfeld calls the house an unoccupied dwelling that he chose not to rent. The city considers it a nuisance. Both expected a court order this week forcing it into receivership."Receivership is an important tool we use to deal with vacant and abandoned properties in Baltimore City," said Jason Hessler, with Baltimore City Housing.But a city judge gave Kropfeld one last opportunity to make money on it. He had to drop the selling price to $65,000, and the buyer must be qualified to renovate or demolish the house. Kropfeld believes he's now backed into a corner."I don't have the capability to fight these people," Kropfeld said.But he has fought in court. City inspectors initially cited him for code violations. He said he fixed the violations, but that the the city then required him to prove he had $13,000 on hand to make additional repairs."It was a series of forced compromises," Kropfeld said."We don't go after just anyone's property. We're going after nuisance properties, vacant, abandoned, where owners don't have the resources or ability to care for them," Hessler said.The city calls the process fair. It is overseen by the courts and housing officials work with owners who are fixing their properties.According to the city, Kropfeld had ample time -- longer than 18 months -- to correct problems.So now, Kropfeld must rely on a for-sale sign, hoping someone will purchase the house he can no longer keep, a situation that angers him."It's not right, it's not right," Kropfeld said.The judge told Kropfeld it's also not right for owners to let their property sit and deteriorate. She has given him until Oct. 26 to sell it.Get the WBAL-TV News App