Following is a transcript of the last question posed during the Q&A segment (emphasis added) of a recent webinar presented by the Center for Community Progress and Senior Fellow (also , formerly nonresident Senior FellowREAD MORE
Unintended Consequences?
A recent article discusses amendments to a “VPRO” that now require “owners’ names and contact information be displayed on placards outside houses on the vacant building registry.” This approach, though clearly well intended, brings upREAD MORE
Ohio Land Bank Lawsuit….Sorry, but your math is wrong
Along with vacant property registration ordinances, Land Banks are one of the more widely used tools in the fight against blight. Now, class action lawsuit have been filed by former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann,READ MORE
Baltimore Vacant Properties, is Public Shaming the Answer?
In a recent Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun, Peter Duvall, community revitalization coordinator for Strong City Baltimore discussed new legislation being proposed by Councilman Kris Burnett. This legislation would “target the hard-to-track owners of vacantREAD MORE
Time to get off the Hamster Wheel
As a follow up to my March Blog posting where I discussed the continuing issue of wasted time, money and effort in identifying owners or mortgage servicers of vacant and abandoned properties please see thisREAD MORE
Code Enforcement Liens: Carrot or Stick? Or both?
So I came across an interesting article, the headline, and in fact the article itself, was very matter of fact. The headline read “Code violators owe Estero more than $2M in fines. The Village CouncilREAD MORE
Doing the right thing…
I have been blessed many times in my life, and in many different aspects. One area I do not take for granted was the opportunity to witness first-hand how my late father-in-law, an Ernst &READ MORE
Short-term rentals, still murky as ever; and a blast from the past!
In an attempt to further get my arms around this issue I’m seeing more and more contradictions and disparity. Yet one similarity to the VPR space gave me a major flashback. Take this report fromREAD MORE
It Started Out So Well……….
An interesting article that discusses a logical and positive approach to addressing the universal concern of squatters, ends by discussing troubling legislation being proposed in the Hawaii Legislature. From the preamble in the legislation oneREAD MORE
Getting off the Hamster Wheel
True story. Several years ago, I was invited to present to the City Council and heads of the fire, police and building departments for a larger (200,000+) city on “zombie foreclosures” etc. First to arriveREAD MORE
Changing Landscape in Real Estate
Never slow in the world of real estate and never “same old, same old”. Trying to keep up in anything is often difficult. For municipal officials that wear so many different hats and juggle soREAD MORE
“Mea Culpa”
However much I try to be conventional, sometimes that may not be the best approach. Having the initial blog post for a new company begin with acknowledging fault, I believe most people would consider thatREAD MORE