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 that somewhat unconventional.
But that is what I feel is called for.
In our Thought Leadership section, you will find a white paper authored in 2012 by Dan Immergluck and Yun Sang Lee from the School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology along with Patrick Terranova. The paper is titled “Local Vacant Property Registration Ordinances in the U.S.: An Analysis of Growth, Regional Trends, and Some Key Characteristics”.
In the paper I am quoted as writing in 2011, “if every city in the U.S. enacted a VPR ordinance, the challenges of vacant properties would not go away; in fact, they would likely get worse”.
Though not every city has enacted a VPR ordinance, eight years later the numbers have increased dramatically. However, any current negative status or circumstance regarding vacant property(ies) can in no way be associated with VPR ordinances.
I’m many things, a prophet or a psychic I’m clearly not!
Truth be told, I don’t recall writing those exact words, but Professor Immergluck is beyond reproach so if he wrote it – then I wrote it.
So why was I wrong?
I believe it comes down to two points. Really, they are one and the same, it just depends how you look at it. Either it was based on “unfounded concerns” or they turned out to be “pleasant surprises”.
There are plenty of kudos to go around.
Local elected government officials for implementing a program and providing the “boots on the ground” code/building officials with another “tool for their toolbox”, often after receiving significant initial pushback.
Municipal staff for crafting workable legislation with appropriate fees (still plenty work to be done! See future blog postings).
Property owners and especially banks and mortgage companies and their third-party vendors for adapting so quickly to navigate the myriad of new local requirements. (I once heard a bank executive say “our challenge as a national bank is to think local”!)
Finally, if I started with a “mea culpa” then perhaps I can take a little of the kudos. For many years I have had the privilege of working to bridge the gaps between loan servicers/banks and communities, especially in the world of vacant property registration legislation. Always striving to create easily compliable legislation without unnecessary hindrances, which fully achieve the municipality’s goals and desired outcomes.
For that small part I am grateful, but as I mentioned, still plenty more work to be done…………………………………….
Learn how, Munireg, working on behalf of municipalities, can be the solution to a long-standing issue.
In 2011 the GAO issued a report titled, “(Vacant Properties) Growing Number Increases Communities’ Costs and Challenges”
The following quote was an issue then and remains an issue today. “Some cities have passed ordinances that require servicers to notify the city when a property they are managing becomes vacant and attempt to hold them responsible for maintenance. However, localities often lack resources or staff to enforce these requirements fully.”
Learn how MuniReg is the solution by emailing [email protected]