Mesa may focus on abandoned homes with property ordinance

by Gary Nelson The Arizona Republic Jul. 9, 2010 12:00 AM

The neighbors were there one day, gone the next, and never said a word about leaving.

What they left was a mess, one more abandoned property in a city that saw nearly 1,000 foreclosures in May alone, according to the website RealtyTrac.

The house on Barkley Street is a perfect illustration of what Mesa faces when it tries to do code enforcement on abandoned properties. Mesa put a sign on the window several months ago notifying that the property had been abandoned - but that's all the city can do right now.

The house is still listed by the county assessor as being owned by the couple who bought it in early 2007. That means most likely it's in that twilight zone between abandonment and foreclosure - a time when Mesa can't pin down whom to hold responsible for maintenance.

Mesa is hoping to fix that by joining about 300 other cities that have adopted abandoned-property registration ordinances.

"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:

When a mortgage company determines a loan is in default, it would be required to inspect the property immediately to determine whether it's vacant.

If so, the company would be required to register the property with the city, make sure the place is secured and begin maintaining it. Maintenance would continue until the property is reoccupied.

The company would have to inspect the property monthly to ensure compliance. It also would have to provide contact information - a local property-management company, for example, if the lender is from out of state.

One issue not addressed in the staff report: what mechanisms and penalties would be in place to force compliance from lenders that often are large national corporations.

With the council now on the cusp of a six-week break, Councilwoman Dina Higgins said there won't be any public discussions on the idea at least until late summer.

Mesa may focus on abandoned homes with property ordinance