In March 2022, we reported on Washington Senate SB 5825 that would require the department of commerce to convene a work group to make recommendations on the creation of a statewide rental and vacant property registration program for the purpose of inventorying both tenant-occupied and potentially available rental housing.

Now, on December 16th Washington Senate Bill 5060 has been introduced. titled “Requiring the registration of rental and vacant housing units.”

For more information, please click here.

A recent webinar, convened by Strategic Code Enforcement Management Academy (SCEMA) discussed how to leverage Health Impact Assessments’ program and policy recommendations with local leaders, nonprofits, and code officials. Additionally, representatives from Syracuse and Rochester (NY) shared details on the essential ingredients for effective proactive rental inspection programs.
To view the webinar, along with other SCEMA educational materials, please click here. 
To view the presentation slides, please click here.

Related and perhaps in contrast to the above webinar, a recent article from Athens OH uses a roof collapse to discuss the many challenges code enforcement face in identifying substandard housing along with multi-faceted concerns tenants have to balance.

Key points of the article:

One suggestion not discussed is utilizing drones, however this too involves the need for additional resources. This is why it is critical communities utilize all available resources, including public-private partnerships. MuniReg can assist!

To view the article, please click here.

The proliferation and associated dangers of fires at vacant properties are well documented. These fires are often attributed to squatters or homeless individual taking up residence. However, a new report from Flint MI asks a troubling question, “Are frustrated neighbors turning to arson to fight blight?”

According to one neighbor, the motive may be “they will make it a priority,”

To view the article, please click here.

Installing new doors and windows, trash cleanup, and weeding at abandoned houses in Philadelphia led to substantial drops in nearby gun violence, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings suggest that fixing dilapidated, abandoned houses is an inexpensive intervention that local governments can add to their prevention efforts to address the current gun violence crisis.

For this study, which began in June 2017 and finished in February 2020, abandoned houses across the city of Philadelphia were randomly selected and put into one of three trial arms. The first group received a full remediation including new window and door installations, trash cleanup, and weeding; the second group received trash cleanup and weeding only; the third group received no interventions, serving as a control. In total, 258 abandoned houses were included in the study.

To access the study, please click here.
For an article on the study from Penn Today, please click here.

To view related studies, please click on following links:
Study determines blight remediation impacts firearm violence in urban neighborhoods

Journal of Behavioral Medicine “Urban building demolitions, firearm violence, and drug crime”

LSU Department of sociology study linking blight and homicide