Moreno Valley seeks to join other Southern California cities with VPR to fight blight

 

Moreno Valley, CA: City Council members continue to evaluate benefits of a vacant property registration (VPR) program as 2015 begins. Members’ disposition currently in support of blight reduction and prevention measures, though concerns remain regarding possible financial burden a VPR could place on some homeowners.

 

The likely route for would involve contracting Nationwide Cost Recovery Service (NCRS) to operate the program, given the track record of an 85 percent compliance rate claimed by NCRS co-owner Nef Cortez while running programs in six other Southern California cities.

 

Initial discussion and support for annual registration fees and penalties for non-compliance were that those be hefty enough so no actual cost to the city would be passed down, that the program would be self-sustaining. The only major concern being that fees could be passed on to homeowners due to the language of their contracts with lenders, which could hinder efforts for their payments or loan renegotiations.

 

All questions, concerns, and more concrete numbers for the program will be further scrutinized as council meetings resume in 2015.

 

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