After decades, what went up has finally come down.

Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine says the city is addressing the issue of hundreds of abandoned homes with a simple letter to the owners.

“This building is condemned by a building inspector. We come out, we take pictures, we add the pictures to the letters, we send them a letter. We give them 30 days,” says Vidrine.

Vidrine says there’s been a mixed bag of responses from homeowners.

Some hire contractors to tear down the houses, and then there are others who do the opposite.

“Problem is we have other homeowners who are getting letters and ignoring the letters and that is when the city will step in and it will cost them two or three times more,” says Vidrine.

Vidrine says the abandoned homes often attract unwanted activity.

“This is an example of a cocaine bag that people come here and do drugs, they do prostitution,” says Vidrine.

This isn’t just the case of a couple houses.

Vidrine says hundreds of these houses are littered throughout the city.

“You see the landlords over the years have neglected this property. Our patience is gone. We will be tearing this down. Mark my words! These houses are coming down!” says Vidrine.

Vidrine says similar letters are also going out to homeowners whose grass has not been cut.

Their deadline to respond is ten days.