“Code enforcement will never be successful if communities ignore the realities of their local real estate markets and the circumstances facing residents and business owners. Addressing these realties requires substantial investment of resources to support our most vulnerable property owners.”
Following up on earlier posting titled “We Will Need Code Enforcement Now More Than Ever: Three COVID-19 Responses to Protect Neighborhoods“, the Center for Community Progress now provides a valuable resource of “programs active today that can help property owners address maintenance and repair needs.”
For additional information, please click here.
The Los Angeles City Council recently adopted a vacancy tax measure for consideration on the November 2020 ballot, potentially creating an additional tax on unoccupied residential units
For additional information, please click on the following link.
San Fernando Valley Business Journal: L.A. City Council Votes to Put Vacancy Tax on Ballot
On June 4, Michigan Representative Dan Kildee introduced the National Land Bank Network Act.
Kildee, a Democrat, partnered on the new bill with Georgia Representative Drew Ferguson, a Republican/
“Land banks are quasi-public agencies that are entitled to acquire and maintain distressed properties and return them to productive use.” This proposed bill “would both expand and fortify the nation’s network of land banks in hopes of establishing the infrastructure for dealing with the fallout of the pandemic before it happens.”
For additional information please click on the following links;
City Lab: Can Land Banks Get Us Out of This Mess?
Center for Community Progress: Community Progress Shares Support for the “National Land Bank Network Act of 2020”
On May 21st the Center for Community Progress convened a webinar titled “Strategic Code Enforcement: A Critical Tool for Supporting COVID-19 Neighborhood Response”
“Despite the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on local government budgets across the country, it is imperative—to the extent possible—that we recognize, protect, and invest in the public systems critical to long term recovery efforts; systems like housing and building code enforcement. A successful code enforcement system plays an important role in supporting the maintenance of safe and healthy housing, identifying and mitigating the impact of problem properties on residents and neighborhoods, and connecting enforcement efforts to productive property reuse opportunities.”
The recording is now available, by clicking here.
A recent article from Tapinto.net discusses one New Jersey municipality’s new efforts to ensure compliance with their vacant property registry.
For more information, please click here.
A recent article in the Dothan Eagle, discusses a new and innovative program in Jackson County FL, to help homeowners who are in violation of the county’s solid waste and nuisance policies but are not able to correct those things due to physical and/or financial limitations.
The creator of this program said this “code enforcement through volunteers” program is one he hopes will be an answer for the many individuals who want to get their properties cleared of nuisance items but are simply not physically able or financially situated to do it themselves or hire it done.
For additional information, please click here.