Yellow Cards stir up Decatur, Ga. residents
During the Nov. 4 Decatur, Ga. City Commission meeting, Commissioner Patti Garrett holds up one of the cards left on homes in Decatur by Atlantahousebuyer.com
A company called Atlantahousebuyer.com is leaving yellow notes on the doors of houses in Decatur and it’s bothering some residents.
The notes say that the company wants to buy four homes in the neighborhood in the next 90 days and asks the home owners if they’d like to sell.
City Commissioner Patti Garrett said during the Nov. 4 City Commission meeting that residents think the notes make them targets for burglars.
“People were concerned. It’s kind of like having a bright yellow sticker saying, ‘Nobody’s home all day today, nobody’s taken this off,'” Garrett said.
John Barbee, a Decatur resident and owner of the Atlantahousebuyer.com website, said the company has been leaving notes on people’s doors throughout DeKalb County for years. This is the first time he’s received complaints, he said. He said the reason the notices say the company wants to purchase four houses is because that’s the amount of money he has in his budget to purchase them.
One of the cards left on homes in the City of Decatur.
“We’ve been trying to figure out why the last round of notices has got people so upset,” Barbee told Decaturish. “It could be because people don’t know who is putting them out.”
He said, “I’m a business person. I’m a Decatur resident. I’m a neighbor.”
The notices have been left at homes along Brower Street, Pharr Road and McClean Street in Decatur. Barbee said his company is legally allowed to put the stickers on people’s doors.
Garrett asked City Manager Peggy Merriss to look into the city’s laws to see if there’s anything prohibiting the company from doing it. Merriss said she wasn’t sure.
“Technically if someone’s going door-to-door soliciting, they would need a permit,” Merriss said. But soliciting and putting a sticker on someone’s door are two different things, Merriss said. “But if we saw somebody walking up to people’s property and slapping something on the door, we’d at least talk to them.”
Merriss said, “We’ll look into it.”
Garrett said home buyers have also placed stickers on her door.
“I always think I must have a package, but it’s never a package,” Garrett said. “It’s always somebody wanting to buy my house.”