According to the Arizona Republic, a growing number of complaints are reaching the city of Mesa about the lack of maintenance on abandoned properties, and Mesa is trying to figure out who to hold responsible.
Mesa residents tell stories of their neighbors being there one day and being gone the next without any word that they were leaving. The messy home they leave behind is just one more abandoned property in a sea of already vacant homes. Mesa saw nearly 1,000 foreclosures in May according to RealtyTrac reports.
But what happens when the City of Mesa makes their code enforcement rounds? At 
this point, all Mesa city officials can do at this point and tag the property as abandoned by placing a sign in the window noting that the property is vacant. Many abandoned houses are still listed by the county assessor in the last homeowners name. Likely, this indicates the house is somewhere in or near foreclosure. At this stage, the city of Mesa doesn’t know who to hold responsible.
300 other cities have adopted abandoned-property registration ordinances, and Mesa is likely hopping on board.
“The real goal of that program is to try to find a responsible party between when a person walks and it actually goes into foreclosure,” said Tammy Albright, Mesa’s code-compliance supervisor.
Here’s how it would work:
- Mortgage companies would be required to inspect the property immediately following the loan delinquency to determine whether or not it is vacant.
- If it is vacant, the company would have to register the property with the city, secure the property and begin maintaining it. They would be responsible for maintenance until the home is occupied again.
- The company would have to make monthly inspections to make sure the property was still within compliance codes. The city would also require a company contact, or a local property management company contact for out-of-state lenders.
The staff report doesn’t address some issues like what plans would be enforced to make sure that the lending companies were meeting these compliance standards and codes, and what penalties they face if they don’t.
The Mesa city council is currently on a six-week break, so there likely will be no further discussion until the end of summer.
