TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Chapter 18.24 relating to Foreclosure Registry Program, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On January 4, 2011 the City Council adopted Chapter 18.24 of the Municipal Code establishing a “Foreclosure Registry Program” in the City. Chapter 18.24 provides the City with the ability to better track and monitor properties involved in the foreclosure process, and requires lenders/trustees of vacant properties to maintain their properties so that they do not become a blight or nuisance in the community.
Since the implementation of Chapter 18.24, staff has been tracking Notices of Default (NOD) for residential properties in the City. Since February 2011, an estimated 1,500 NODs have been recorded, and of those, approximately 700 have been registered through the City’s Foreclosure Registry Program. The current program requires that staff inspect all registered properties, and document existing conditions. If the property is not maintained, appropriate violation notices are sent. Failure to comply results in the issuance of an Administrative Citation, and the property is then placed into the City’s Long-Term Boarded and Vacated Building Program per Chapter 18.21 of the Long Beach Municipal Code. In addition, the current regulations provide for monetary penalties of up to $1,000 a day for properties that have chronic maintenance issues. Over the last six months, notices advising lenders and trustees of the registry requirements have been issued to all entities that have filed a NOD against residential properties. Under the current ordinance, lenders and trustees must register the property only if it is vacant or abandoned. At this point, there is no way to determine if these residential properties are vacant without a field visit by a member of City staff.
Staff recognizes that, in addition to vacant residential properties, many occupied properties inv...
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