Cincinnati looks to revise vacant property registration code to fix flaws in system

 

Cincinnati, OH: Revisions to vacant property registration sought by city councilman to sew up loopholes in current ordinance measures.

 

The current ordinance requires banks and lenders to register every abandoned or vacant foreclosed property within the city, while maintaining various safety and property appearance standards.

 

Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld applauded the some-1,500 properties registered and $700,000 in fees and fines collected to address the problems and allow the registry to be self-sustaining, since the ordinance was passed in 2012.

 

However, some so-called loopholes remain, and the council wants to amend the registry to allow for more funding to be used for demolitions and to remove where some noticed faults still exist, such as when an entity purchases the tax lien on a property, though not the property itself, thus allowing for avoidance of some measures.

 

Those revisions and more are currently under discussion, as are many other successful vacant property registration programs’ details around the country, to further allow cities to clean up blighted neighborhoods while not imposing additional fees on residents instead of property owners.

 

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