Transcript Protecting Communities from Vacant and Foreclosed Properties

Governor’s Housing Conference
Restoring Communities Across Maryland
Protecting Communities from Vacant and
Foreclosed Properties
October 16, 2012
Jason Hessler
Assistant Commissioner of Litigation
Baltimore City Overview
Population: 620,000
Open violation Notices: 29,510
Vacant Building Notices: 16,106
Property Maintenance Inspectors: 87
Inspections completed in FY’12: 287,000
Work Orders Completed in FY ’12: 52,193
What we are doing to
combat vacant properties
Building Code Enforcement Capacity:
What tools are critical and how do you get there?
Enforcement
• Administrative citations
• Rely on executive authority wherever
possible and resort to judiciary only
where necessary
• Trained Investigators
• Dedicated code enforcement attorneys
Business processes that
maximize productivity
The Code Enforcement
Timeline
•
New tools and business processes
have been programmed into code
enforcement’s automated business
systems.
•
Within the first 12 months of
launch, code enforcement will
likely issue 1,000 citations for
failing to abate a violation notice effectively doubling enforcement
capacity while at the same time
reducing the wait time for results
by more than 50%.
Clean & Lien
45000
$4,000,000
42683
40893
40000
38928
37276
$3,386,966 $3,231,041
35000
$3,500,000
36387
$3,000,000
30000
$2,547,096
$2,463,723
$2,500,000
25599
25000
$2,000,000
20000
15000
10000
5000
$1,560,226
14355
$1,384,979
Service
Transferred to
DPW at end
of FY 07
$1,500,000
$1,000,000
$834,126
HCE
HCE
HCE
DPW
FY05
FY06
FY07
FY08
DPW
DPW
DPW
FY09
FY10
FY11
0
$500,000
$0
(HCE) work orders created
(DPW) work orders created
liens collected
Demolition
Trained Investigator
Dedicated Attorneys and Court
Unoccupied vs. Vacant
• Unoccupied not Vacant – Keep an eye on it.
– Issue violation notice at first signs of decline.
– Require a registration.
• Vacant foreclosed home
–
–
–
–
Locate responsible party
Clean, Secure and Lien Property
Keep them on a short lease
Litigate if necessary
• Injunction vs. Receivership
Code Enforcement works by leveraging
private resources, if resources are not there,
code enforcement cannot successfully
leverage an outcome.
GIS Mapping
Receivership Filings
600
554
Receivership Filings by Fiscal Year
500
400
352
300
200
109
104
FY 07
FY 08
118
110
100
92
32
0
0
FY 05
FY 06
FY 09
FY 10
FY 11
FY 12
FY 13 YTD
Data for July and August
Promote community involvement
through access to data and an onramp to government.
Communicate with the Community
Be Responsive
Tips
Create a checklist
•Property address
•Mail-to address
•Is the property registered?
•Has the owner pulled any permits?
•Do they own any other properties?
–Are any of these properties registered? If so, repeat analysis.
•Are the taxes paid?
•Are there additional names listed on the deed? If so, repeat
analysis.
•Where is the water bill mailed?
•Have they filed for bankruptcy?
Identify In-House Resources
Baltimore City Data Sources:
• Land Records (BITS)
• Property Registration
• Licensing
• Permits
• Prior Code Actions
• Investigator Files
• Tax payments
• Water bills
Free on the web
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Google Search (Web sites), www.google.com
Foreclosure
Phone book, www.superpages.com
Registry
Pipl, www.pipl.com
Database
Facebook,, Myspace, linkedIn
SS Death Index, http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com , (No longer free)
FDIC (Banks), www.fdic.gov
National Information Center (Banking Institution Search),
http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/nichome.aspx
MD Register of Wills, http://registers.maryland.gov
Case Search, http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us (Judgment/Lien Search)
SDAT, http://www.dat.state.md.us/
MD Land Records, www.mdlandrec.net
National Registered agent link, http://www.registeredagentinfo.com/
Short Sale Lender site, http://www.short-salespecialists.com/community_reports.shtml
MERS, http://www.mersinc.org/
Federal Inmate search, http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp
State Inmate Search, http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/inmate
Maryland Case Search
http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us
www.mdlandrec.net
Mortgage Electronic Registration System
Other Resources
• Knock on doors and ask neighbors
• Motor Vehicle Records.
• Fee Based Internet Services, Accurint,
CLEAR
– www.accurint.com
– www.west.thomson.com/westlaw
Jason Hessler, Assistant Commissioner
Baltimore Housing
Permits and Code Enforcement Legal Section
417 E. Fayette St, Room 355
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-396-4140
[email protected]
www.baltimorehousing.org