Futher Steps taken Holyoke, MA manages Vacant Property Blight
Holyoke, MA: Even with notification and vacant property registration measures in place, not all attempts by cities to address blight brought on by vacant or abandoned properties result in action by owners. The first challenge can sometimes be as troublesome as basic contact information, as what the city has for code enforcers is little more than a name.
Due to mortgage transfers, the person identified as the owner might no longer be in charge of the property due to one or more banks having also gained control of the property, depending on the duration of the vacancy; and extended vacancies can make a string of contacts that only lead to another entity needed to be found and contacted.
In Holyoke, steps are under discussion to move vacant residential properties that are causing continual blight into receivership. Receivership is when a person is "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights," according to Wikipedia.
Alongside those issues come further difficulties for assigning code enforcement officers and enough time to cover all complaints by residents as well as follow up on previously reported or inspected properties. In the end, the city’s goal is to streamline a process for dealing with all areas of code enforcement for vacant and commercial properties.
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