Sacramento Man Faces Possible Fines After Home Is Tagged With Graffiti

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A Sacramento homeowner says he's in a graffiti fight and he's losing.

He says first vandals are ruining his property, and second he says Sacramento city leaders are making matters worse.

Every time the homeowner gets hit by vandals, it costs him money to clean it up.

But the city says if he doesn't do it quick enough, it'll cost him even more.

A Sacramento homeowner is seeing red, fed up, frustrated and furious after vandals tagged his fence with gang graffiti four times in the last six months.

"You can see the different colors right there," said homeowner Javier Rios, pointing out where the graffiti was covered up.

The last time he was tagged was just two days ago.

He says just when he thought he'd been dealing with enough he got a letter from the city of Sacramento. The city said it would fine him if he didn't remove the graffiti.

"On top of that they punish me," said Rios.

The letter code enforcement sent asks Rios to remove the graffiti within 10 working days from the date of the letter or "an enforcement fee of $373 may be billed to you if you do not... This fee will be in addition to other related fees... A lien may also be placed against the property for failure to pay all removal costs," the letter stated.

"I don't know what I hate the most, what those guys that are doing or the council city members," said Rios.

But the city's letter explains that graffiti kept up attracts more of the same vandalism.

Rios feels he's fighting this battle alone.

He says he even sits in his car sometimes overnight, trying to catch the vandals; because, he feels no one else will.

"Something's gotta be done," said Rios.

A city spokesperson told CBS13 that the goal is to keep the city clean and they will work with homeowners.