‘Junkyard’ house sold for fraction of its value at Richland auction
A debris-strewn home near the Richland waterfront was sold at a foreclosure auction Friday outside the Benton County Justice Center.
A bidder identified only as Dylan was the lone bidder on the property though a small crowd gathered to watch.
The home at 1312 Hains Ave. sold for $1.00 more than the minimum bid of about $134,000. The auction was conducted by the trustee, Clear Recon Corp.
The home, which is just steps away from the popular Hains Levee Trail along the Columbia River, went into foreclosure after the current owner, Lee A. Green III, defaulted on the loan after inheriting the property from his father, Lee A. Green Jr.
The Green Jr. died in 2014, but his name remained on the loan and ownership records.
The younger Green faces a series of legal challenges, both civil and criminal. He continues to be held in the Benton County jail on charges of second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment, harassment, commercial sex abuse of a minor, distribution of a controlled substance to a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
In February, a neighbor won a $76,000 judgment against Green for damages to the fence that separates Dickinson’s property from Green’s. The suit said Green attached plywood to Dickinson’s picket fence, damaging it beyond repair.
Richland city code enforcement officials cited the owner numerous times for violating codes against inoperable vehicles and debris.
The county assessor’s office listed the value of the property last year at about $338,000. The lot alone was valued at $115,000.
The city considered taking the extreme step of filing a suit in Superior Court to have it declared a nuisance., which would allow it to secure an order of abatement to legally force it to be cleaned up.
The city backed off the lawsuit after the house went into foreclosure, saying a change in ownership and efforts by the current resident to clean up offered a better path to solve the problem.
A nuisance case is pending against the owners of a separate Richland property, 2100 Pullen St., that’s also piled with a mountain of derelict vehicles, RVs and construction debris.
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 12:25 PM with the headline "‘Junkyard’ house sold for fraction of its value at Richland auction."