A weathered black tarp covers a massive hole on the roof of Gary Moore’s Winter Park home. Black mold spreads along the side panels of the one-story house on Whitesell Drive.

Weeds and vines grow rampant in the backyard, encroaching on adjacent properties and attracting snakes and rats, neighbors wrote in letters to the city. Standing water provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

An orange card placed on Moore’s front window by the city’s Building Services Division reads: “UNSAFE. DO NOT OCCUPY. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.”

But Moore, 69, lives there alone, without an air conditioner.

It’s the home he’s resided in for more than 50 years, he told a Winter Park Police officer doing a welfare check. It’s where he cared for his mother Lucy until she died in 2013.

After neighbor complaints and multiple code compliance board meetings, Winter Park filed a lawsuit in Orange County court to evict Moore. If successful, the house would likely be razed, according to the suit.

The roof of Gary Moore's Winter Park home is caved in so city officials deemed it an "unsafe dwelling." (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Moore didn’t answer the front door when an Orlando Sentinel reporter knocked twice earlier this week. The city has made numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact Moore through letters and home visits, records show.

He responded to the lawsuit in a handwritten nine-page letter. Moore claimed the roof damage was sustained in 2017, during Hurricane Irma. State and federal funding applications were stalled in an “endless quagmire of bureaucratic inefficiency,” he said.

“If the court rules in favor of the city, and I am forced out of my home, it will be as good as a death sentence to me,” Moore wrote. “I have no family, no friends, nowhere to go and no way to get there.”

City officials first documented the deterioration of Moore’s house in July 2018. A code compliance officer noted in a report the “extensive damage to the roof and [the] building is partially demoed.” Rotted wood, holes and water damage were visible.

Before Moore’s case was brought to the board, “the city made contact with the state and found out that Mr. Moore did not follow through with the site inspection of his home,” city spokesperson Craig O’Neil said in an email. “Therefore, his application for assistance was closed.”

It’s unpleasant for neighbors Vinny and Danielle D’Assaro to witness the decay of Moore’s property, so their living room shutters are often closed.

The couple has lived next to Moore for more than 20 years and although neighbors know him to be reclusive, Vinny said, “he really worked hard to take care of his mom.”

The D’Assaros said in an interview that their property has been damaged over the years because of Moore’s unkempt home. They frequently saw rats scurrying between the two properties, so they paid for a rodent inspection and submitted the report to city officials.

“For me, it is a health issue,” Danielle D’Assaro said.

Vinny D’Assaro, an attorney, said he knows the strength of private property rights, especially in Florida.

“I understand why it’s taken so long, it doesn’t mean that I’m not frustrated,” he said. “Right now, I don’t know that I’m even in the tunnel, let alone can see the light at the end of it.”

Mold is seen on the outside of Gary Moore's Winter Park home on Whitesell Drive. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

City officials have not assessed the inside of Moore’s home, according to O’Neil. The code violations are based on exterior damage.

The board determined in 2020 that “because this area is open to the rain and elements, a deterioration of structural members is occurring, which has compromised the interior of the house for safe occupancy.”

It’s extremely rare to spot Moore outside, neighbors said.

Records show Winter Park police have conducted multiple welfare checks on Moore within the past few years. Body camera footage from an April 2021 visit provided some insight on Moore’s quality of life.

For 15 minutes, Moore stood on his front porch and spoke to WPPD Officer Kyle Liquori, the recording shows. Trash cans were visible through the open front door, placed underneath a gaping hole in the ceiling that exposed wooden beams.

Neighbors are “worried you’re going to pass away” inside the home, Liquori told Moore. “You don’t have much family, and then no one really hardly sees you out here.”

Moore replied that he does his grocery shopping at a nearby 7-Eleven around 2 a.m. to lessen the chances of COVID exposure. His living situation isn’t as dire as many people suspect, he said.

“The only time I have a problem is when it storms real heavy and it can blow in but, I’ve got the tarp back there.” Moore told Liquori. “Personally, I’m just trying to keep my head above water.”