Fiscal Note
There will likely be a small increase in General Fund revenues derived from new fees for registration of abandoned properties and potential forfeitures for violations. Administration of the abandoned property registry and associated activities can likely be accommodated within existing staff resources, depending on the number of such properties that may ultimately be registered.
Title
Creating Section 27.10 of the Madison General Ordinances to require persons asserting a collateral or other legal or equitable interest in a residential property to register such property with the City if the property is abandoned and to require said persons to inspect, maintain and secure such properties to promote public health, safety and welfare of the immediate neighborhood and the community.
Body
DRAFTER'S ANALYSIS: Vacant and abandoned residential buildings are a major cause and source of blight in neighborhoods when they are not maintained or secured. Abandoned residential buildings attract vagrants and criminal activity and are extremely vulnerable to others using the property without authorization. Frequently persons asserting a collateral or other legal or equitable interest in a residential property (primarily banks and lending institutions) decline to take responsibility for the property during foreclosure proceedings even after they have been made aware that the property has been abandoned. This ordinance is intended to reduce and prevent neighborhood blight, to ameliorate conditions that threaten the public health, safety and welfare and promote neighborhood stability by requiring those persons asserting collateral, legal or equitable interests in a property to inspect, register, maintain and secure the property if the property is abandoned. This ordinance is modeled after similar ordinances that have been adopted in many cities around the country, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; San Diego, Chula Vista, Riverside, Inglewood and Palmdale, California;...
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