Just recently my municipality has amended it's vancant property registry requirements and instituted regorous penalties and fines for those who do not comply:
•vacant property owners must submit a vacant building registry application for each vacant property they own and they must provide the contact information for the party in charge of the building
•owners must describe the premises and how they have secured the structure from public access
•owners must maintain at least $300,000 in liability insurance for 1 & 2 unit buildings and $1,000,000 for other buildings
•registration must be renewed annually. This fee can be waived if the owner decided to restore the property, of which, they must submit plans
•any owner who fails to comply faces civil penalties between $500 and $1,000 per day the violation continues
There are over 700 abandoned or vacant properties in the city, which only 4.8 sq miles. Many of these vacants are confined to a few city blocks. These news rules are a direct result of owners of vacant properties doing nothing (either banks or private owners). These owners have no plan to rehab or demolish these buildings, because it is probably cost prohibitive (esp due to lead paint and asbestos abatement/removal). They’re just passively waiting/hoping for values to increase (not currently listed for sale or viable to rent). They say it is too expensive to rehab, too expensive to demolish, and, now, too expensive to pay insurance/vacant registry fees. Or if it is habitable, taxes and utilities make it too expensive to maintain.
If the city, owners, and banks don’t have the resources to solve the issue, who does? How do you solve the issue of a property (or properties) that’s after-improved-value is still less than the resale value? Any mustachian proposals?