Housing Tip of the Week: Call 311 on vacant properties

This week's Housing Tip of the Week is about what residents can do to take action on a vacant and abandoned property.

If you have a vacant property on your block or next to you, when calling 311, please call for a Vacant Building Inspection. This enables the housing inspectors to look at all aspects of the property to see if it is already designated with a Vacant Building Notice, or it needs one.

Once a property gets a Vacant Building Notice, the City can begin taking action through receivership or In Rem to get it rehabbed. If the property already has a Vacant Building Notice, then more citations can be assigned.

The important thing here is not just to limit the citations to high grass and weeds. Call directly for a Vacant Building Inspection, that carries higher penalties and urgency for the City to take action. The City cannot take action on a property unless it has a vacant building notice on it.

Based on data, I believe there are several hundred if not thousands of vacant properties that have yet to be designated as vacant. Once the designation occurs, the City can continue to give citations to the property. Here are the penalties:

• $1000 for failing to abate the vacant building notice - meaning failure to rehab the property

• $250 plus another $1000 for high grass and weeds

• $500 plus another $1000 for a bad roof issue.

• If you just call for high grass and weeds, only a $250 citation will be issued.

Stacking up these liens will help make the property eligible for In Rem. We know the likelihood that these liens will get paid is minimal, but this will allow us to take action. In addition, DPW and DHCD will address the grass and the boarding of the property.