Picking up trash but not throwing it away: Common Ground upset with Bucks' owner Wes Edens

MILWAUKEE -- A community group is sending a special gift of sorts to Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens. But it's not something he'll want to receive.

Members of Common Ground are picking up debris and garbage in and around a vacant property. But they are not doing it to throw it away. They are gathering it to mail to the man who owns the property -- Edens.

Common Ground alleges that the house they were at was on the list of hundreds of houses that Wes Edens' mortgage company, NationStar, got after foreclosure. Common Ground stood in front of the same house near 44th and Meinecke in January.

NationStar tells FOX6 News it sold the house in February. Common Ground says NationStar sold it to an out-of-state foreclosure specialist -- and the house is deteriorating. They say other NationStar homes are in the same boat.

"We call this, hiding your mess. They call this, cleaning up their mess. We call it, hiding their mess. We think Wes Edens is quickly selling properties to known bad players," said Sandra Taylor of Common Ground.

They point to a recent fire which killed a dog on the porch. The remains, they say, are still there.

"Is this what Wes Edens thinks of Milwaukee? Is this what he thinks of our neighborhoods our families, of our children?" said Taylor.

A spokesman for NationStar tells FOX6 News in January, NationStar had 300 foreclosed properties in Milwaukee. The company has reduced that by about half -- selling most of those. NationStar says they are working with Milwaukee leaders to do more -- pledging to take responsibility for vacant homes.

Common Ground wants the Common Council to make demands of Wes Edens' mortgage company before approving the arena funding.