DAYTON, Ohio -- In a Trotwood neighborhood sits a burned-out shell of a house filled with trash. Shannon Hamblin’s family complained about it to the health department for years, but with no response.

Hamblin told Newscenter Seven, “It’s nasty, man. Living by it is not good. It’s not good for health and it looks bad.”

The once-tidy home has been stripped of its copper plumbing, electrical wiring and aluminum siding. Neighbors said it is both an eyesore and a safety risk, with several feet of water in the home’s basement.

Hamblin was shocked to learn the owner of the property who failed for years to clean it up is the state of Ohio.

How could it happen? The property is among thousands owned by state taxpayers.

Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray has opened an investigation into the properties and has begun to search for possible ways to deal with them. “I was really appalled that this is what happens with a government bureaucracy over a long period of time that things fall through the cracks,” Cordray said.

In the case of the Trotwood property, the home was foreclosed and eventually forfeited to the state.

Montgomery County Recorder Willis Blackshear told Newscenter Seven, “It happens more than you might think.”

A roster of forfeited real estate in Montgomery County lists nearly 200 properties. Cordray estimates the list of properties statewide is worth $100 million.

Cordray also opened an investigation into another piece of real estate, which is an overgrown lot in Columbus. It was a limestone quarry in the 1800s and was the source of limestone for construction of the statehouse and state penitentiary.

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Click hereto see the list of forfeited property in Montgomery County that now is owned by the state.