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Goodbye to a one vacant house
03/30/2012 9:22 PM by John M
Earlier this week 713 North 24th Street (ABOVE-RIGHT) was successfully moved through the tax sale process and ownership will be formally transferred to new neighbors as of May 1, 2012. The new purchasers paid for the property at the auction on Tuesday and are eager to begin renovation of their half of this 4-bay 1867 doublehouse.
Props to Bonnie Ashley and Melanie Mallery in the City Attorney’s office for all of their work. This was a difficult property to bring to tax sale and they worked very hard for several *years* to make it happen.
Congratulations to the new home owners and best of luck on the renovation. Currently involved in a major renovation myself, it’s both a nerve racking and unbelievably rewarding experience at the same time.
Congrats on the good work. What do we need to do in Richmond to have a more progressive approach to vacant houses? Especially in historic districts?
Brick by brick
Same question as Boz; I have two vacant properties on my block, which is otherwise very nice. I’d really love to see someone fix them up and move in, but the homeowners don’t seem to have any interest in selling them.
Boz & Jujubee, There are sizable tax credits (Federal & State) for historic rehab using Secretary of Interior Guidelines. The City’s incentive for rehab is a r-e tax abatement that lasts for 15 years after the renovation.
But, the City can’t easily make anyone sell or rehab their property. This has to do with the way our laws are written in Virginia. We live in a “Dillon’s Rule” State which limits the power that local governments have on their citizens.
If an owner is keeping up with r-e taxes and complies with local property maintenance ordinances (albeit minimally,) then the city can’t force them to rehab or sell.
713 N 24th St was a beneficiary of the City of Richmond’s Tax Sale process (it sounds simple, but it’s not). It’s a laborious effort and requires hundreds of hours of patient legal work. It takes at least two years from start to finish.
The process begins when a neighbor or group brings an address to the City Attorney’s office as a possible candidate for the program.
If an owner appears to have abandoned the property or is deceased and no heirs have stepped up to take over the taxes or upkeep, then, you might have a case that the City Attorney’s office would be willing to pursue. The handles the legal fees/staff work to get the property thru the tax auction process.
Bonnie Ashley is the person to contact if you have done a little background work and feel the properties you’re concerned about could be candidates for the City’s Tax Auction Process. Be prepared to be very, very patient.
Some of these blighted properties that were bought at tax auction for pennies on the dollar, were sold with an agreement that the buyer would fix them up and have a certificate of occupancy within 3 years, or else the City can take them back and sell them to someone else who will actually put the work into them. Blame it on the economic downturn or just dirtbag speculators, but almost all of those sold with such agreements never put a dime into fixing them up and are just holding the properties, locking them into a state of perpetual blight. The time limit has expired for many of them and the city can take them back if the people don’t make efforts to fix them, but there is no political willingness to enforce these legal agreements. Maybe this goes back to what you were saying Elaine about the limited powers local governments have in VA, so maybe Richmond knows their agreements are not enforceable in court and therefor is choosing not to make these land owners follow the terms of the agreement, but I think it is just more likely that there is no political will to address the problems in our community if it means pissing off anyone, even if they are just out of town residential speculators. The city staff know the elected officials won’t have their backs, so why put their jobs on the line to take these property owners to court.