Blog

Health and Safety Receiverships can successfully remedy substandard commercial properties in California. Substandard commercial properties may be neglected by absentee owners or landlords causing the property to fall into distress or disrepair. Maintenance needs of substandard income-producing commercial properties are often ignored by the owner to maximize profit by minimizing expenses on needed maintenance. A Court-Appointed Health and Safety Receiver can be the solution to protect communities and tenants from substandard commercial properties.

Health & Safety Receiverships are an effective tool to restore vacant properties. There are many vacant residential and industrial properties across California that are half-built or abandoned with no useful purpose. These vacant properties are not only an eyesore for the surrounding community but also pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood. The existence of a vacant property boosts crime and vandalism, contributes to neighborhood decline, negatively affects surrounding property values, creates a public nuisance and requires costly code and police enforcement. A vacant residential property may become a haven for criminal conduct and a vacant industrial site may become an illicit dump. When a vacant property is left unsecured, resourceful trespassers can easily take over the property which can lead to an increase in fires and crime. Vermin also make their home in the vacant space and spread throughout the neighborhood. A court-appointed Receiver can be a remedy for these vacant properties.

The City of San Diego successfully utilizes the health & safety receivership remedy for its most challenging substandard properties. San Diego KGTV 10News recently aired a story on how the City of San Diego approaches hoarding and other severe conditions within its communities. Receiver Red Griswold provides his insight and experience regarding the role of a receivership and how the remedy can resolve dangerous situations.

Health and Safety Receiverships are an extremely valuable remedy to alleviate blight and to restore problematic properties within a community or neighborhood. A Health and Safety Receiver is a neutral third-party appointed by the court to take temporary control over substandard properties with the intent of resolving any potential health and safety threats. A Receiver is responsible for repairs and restoration to the property and to ensure that the property is transformed back into a safe and habitable dwelling. Health and Safety Receiverships can successfully rehabilitate distressed properties when the home owner is unable to remedy the code violations on his or her own. Health and Safety Receiverships are a very effective solution to bring a property into compliance with building and housing codes while also providing residents a safe place to stay while the rehab project is underway.

Health and Safety Receiverships are utilized for a wide arrange of distressed properties, including fire damaged properties. Fires may ignite outside or inside a property for a number of different reasons. Natural wildfires, electrical hazards, smoking and candles, just to name a few. Sometimes the conditions on the property are already so severe (i.e. hoarding, ill-maintained structures, faulty wiring) that the conditions themselves cause a fire. Other times, a perfectly suited property becomes badly damaged by the flames, heat, smoke and water after a fire. Fire damage causes properties to become structurally unsound and compromised and at a risk of collapsing, making it dangerous for anyone to be onsite. Firefighters may have cut holes in walls looking for hidden flames or may have cut holes in the roof to release heat and smoke. Fires often re-ignite even after appearing to be extinguished. Hazardous materials and structural damage pose serious threats to the health and safety of the occupants and surrounding community.

A Health and Safety Receivership is a legal remedy to combat neighborhood blight and transform problematic properties back into safe and habitable structures. A house or building within a community may be deteriorating due to various reasons ranging from severe hoarding, contaminated or unsafe living environments, or owner abandonment. Deteriorating properties are usually produced because no responsible party is willing or able to address the problems on the property. Whether due to an uncooperative property owner, quarreling heirs, disputes regarding title, or an owner that cannot be located, the structure or dwelling is poorly maintained making it an eyesore and hazard to the community. When a property is in severe disrepair and a danger to its tenants or neighboring residents, the property will affect the entire neighborhood.