A Health and Safety Receivership is a comprehensive and systematic tool that eliminates problems with slum housing and problem properties without any costs to the referring agency. Utilizing the receivership remedy saves a city, or other municipality, time and resources, and communicates to the surrounding communities that the city is taking effective steps to remedy the dangerous conditions created by the problem property.
Health and Safety Receiverships are used primarily for abandoned or substandard properties and are most often implemented under the following scenarios: 1) owners and/or occupants refuse to comply with orders to abate substandard conditions; 2) owners and/or occupants are unable to comply with local enforcement agency orders due to physical or psychological conditions; and 3) the owners and/or occupants of the property cannot be located.
California Health and Safety Code sections 17980 et seq. authorize a California Superior Court to appoint a receiver. Once the court appoints the receiver, the property is under the direct control of the court via the court-appointed receiver. By using the receivership remedy, the city is able to utilize the expertise of the receiver to bring the property back to code, thereby allowing the city to direct its attention to other pressing concerns of its communities while the receiver supervises the rehabilitation of the property at the property owner’s expense.
Richardson “Red” Griswold of Griswold Law, APC is regularly appointed by Southern California courts to act as a Receiver to deal with problem properties. To learn more about receiverships, please contact the office at (858) 481-1300.
