Local Initiatives

Assuming that states are doing all they can to equip municipalities with the authority to take swift and direct action, there are several mechanisms local governments can turn to when dealing with vacant homes.

As noted in Vacant and Abandoned Properties: Survey and Best Practices (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2008), city governments of all sizes and in every region of the country are attempting to employ abandoned property strategies. They are doing this by:

  • Preempting the problem by preventing abandonment

  • Inventorying and gaining control of properties to minimize the problems created

  • Fostering the reuse of properties

Some cities have developed comprehensive, citywide strategies while others focus on a particular aspect of the problem.

How Cities Can Respond through Code Enforcement

Housing, property maintenance, and zoning officials are employed by cities, towns, parishes, counties and state governments to enforce ordinances intended to provide minimum standards for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. In many cities, the number of vacant properties has grown so large that code enforcement agencies are overwhelmed. Municipalities are strengthening codes in order to use code enforcement as a tool to gain control of vacant properties.

Model Ordinance

Chula Vista In Chula Vista, California, the local code enforcement manager authored a city ordinance – called the Residential Abandoned Property Program – that holds lenders responsible for the condition of their abandoned or financially distressed properties.

The Residential Abandoned Property Program:

  • Requires lenders to register vacant foreclosed properties with the city to include the name of the lender and the person responsible for maintaining the property
  • Outlines specific maintenance requirements for the property including garbage and debris removal, lawn maintenance, graffiti, and other requirements
  • Requires properties that are owned by corporations or out-of-town entities to hire a local property management firm to prevent the abandoned homes from becoming neglected
  • Requires that there be a posting on the property that identifies who to call to report problems and concerns, plus requires the property manager to inspect the property on a weekly basis
  • States that violators that do not maintain their properties can be fined between $100 and $1,000 a day for each property that is unkempt
  • Allows the city to place a lien on the property if the violator does not pay this fine

This ordinance has become a model for other cities and is protecting Chula Vista neighborhoods from blight. The author of the ordinance has been contacted by over 150 cities that are asking for help in creating similar legislation.

Read the ordinance

News Release from City of Chula Vista

 

Library

  • Albany Abandoned Properties Strategy Report
    The Enterprise Foundation

    This report from The Enterprise Foundation offers several steps the city of Albany should take to continue their progress in combating the problems of vacant and abandoned properties.
  • Bridgeport Mayor Fabrizi Turns Vacant, Abandoned Properties to Productive Use
    United States Conference of Mayors; U.S. Mayor Newspaper

    This article, by Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayor John Fabrizi, highlights the mayor's efforts to return abandoned properties to productive use.  A case from 2006, this report finds Mayor Fabrizi forgave the back taxes owed on two sizeable, abandoned properties in the city so as to encourage new owners to purchase and redevelop the properties.
  • Building a Better Urban Future: New Directions for Housing Policies in Weak Market Cities
    National Housing Institute, Community Development Partnerships' Network, LISC and Enterprise Community Partners

    This joint paper aims to help CDCs, government agencies, lenders, community members, and local foundations that provide resources for housing and community development in weak market cities to assess the effectiveness of current revitalization efforts, develop more potent goals and strategies, and allocate resources to best achieve these goals.
  • Foreclosure to Homelessness: the Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis
    National Coalition for the Homeless

    This report summarizes the findings of a national survey of state and local homeless coalitions conducted in winter 2008 to determine whether their communities were seeing an increase in homelessness due to the foreclosure crisis.   The report is critical of the response at the state and federal level and provides recommendations for federal strategies.
  • Genesee County Land Bank: Strategies for Transforming Vacant and Abandoned Properties from Liabilities to Assets
    Dan Kildee, Genesee County Land Bank

    Download the presentation from Dan Kildee, Genesee County Land Bank entitled "Strategies for Transforming Vacant and Abandoned Properties from Liabilities to Assets" made December 11, 2008 as part of the NeighborWorks forum, Put Your Action Plan to Work: How to Use HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Your Community.
  • Houston's Hope for Affordable Housing
    U.S. Conference of Mayors

    This Best Practices Report from the US Conference of Mayors profiles Houston's Hope for Affordable Housing Program aimed at returning vacant and abandoned properties to productive use.  This two page case study highlights steps used under to program  to acquire, develop and resell the properties.  
  • Minnesota Foreclosure Partners Council
    City of Minneapolis

    The Minnesota Foreclosure Partners Council identifies, funds and implements coordinated, innovative policies and programs that address the recent surge in foreclosures.
  • Model Practices in Tax Foreclosure and Property Disposition: Atlanta Case Study
    Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)

    Atlanta, Georgia is attempting to restore tax delinquent properties to the tax roll in order to boost local government tax collection and improve neighborhoods.  This case study describes several legislative measures since 1990 that have streamlined property disposition in Atlanta..