The city should be stepping in and doing the basic maintenance on the property if neglect rises to nuisance levels.  Eventually, I feel the city should use its eminent domain powers to take over the blighted properties.  If the city was stepping in and providing basic maintenance to address public health and safety issues, ths guy wouldn't have a shred of credibility, and I would think of him as nothing mor than a common thief.

In the absence of the city doing this, it's hard for me to find much outrage over this guy's scheme, though I doubt that his motives are pure-- he probably just wants a quick buck.  Unlike some of the worse deed fraudsters we've seen, this guy has apparently tried to contact the parties who have a current legal interest in the properties.  He's apparently at least trying to perpetrate his deed scheme lawfully in his own eyes-- whether he is succeeding in doing that seems to be disputed by the authorities, putting him on thin ice legally.

I wonder if he'll actually have possession of any of these properties for the seven year period necessary to make an adverse possession claim, or whether the party with the right to foreclose will take advantage of the improvements and maintenance that this guy has provided.