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Substandard housing is a growing issue. It’s estimated that 330 million urban households worldwide live in substandard housing. In the United States alone there are about six million homes and apartment buildings listed as substandard, and the problem isn’t going away any time soon. 

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.

Substandard motels are present in cities across the state California. We have all stayed in a motel where we wished we had read the Yelp reviews first, right? Usually property owners of these substandard commercial properties neglect the basic maintenance needs of the property to save money which, in turn, causes the property to fall into severe disrepair. In these situations, a Court-Appointed Health and Safety Receiver can step in to provide the solution to protect the community and occupants from such dangerous conditions. A Receiver can be appointed by the court to rehabilitate and preserve substandard commercial properties.

Hooray a judgment as been entered! However, just because a decision has been made, the battle is not over yet. Now the phase of enforcing and collecting on that judgment begins. In many cases, a judgment debtor will never willingly satisfy a judgment. For this reason, a post-judgment Receivership is a great judgment enforcement remedy that can help recover money to pay the judgment. A post-judgment Receiver is appointed by the court and, for example, may be granted the authority to manage and take possession of the judgment debtor’s real and personal property to collect, lease, repair, or sell as the court directs. Courts have interpreted that a post-judgment Receiver is in fact working for the benefit of the judgment creditor that sought the appointment of the Receiver.

A Health and Safety Receivership can successfully rehabilitate distressed properties within a community. A receiver can be appointed by the court to manage the renovation of properties that have been seriously neglected by property owners. A receivership is very effective to bring a property into compliance with code enforcement and the city while also providing residents and neighborhoods safety and security. Receivership actions oftentimes deal with extreme hoarding and/or contaminated living conditions unsafe to the community. Receivers may face challenges specifically when dealing with animal hoarding property owners. In these cases, teamwork is key to bring the property into compliance and guide the property owner to the services they may need.

In California, a Health and Safety Receivership is an effective option to resolve code enforcement issues with residential and commercial properties. Health and Safety Receiverships commonly deal with substandard or abandoned properties when property owners fail to comply with code enforcement or when there is a threat to the health and safety of residents or the surrounding community. While receivership may not initially sound like a resource for illegally-operating marijuana facilities, the illegal sale of marijuana likely constitutes a nuisance pursuant to the California health and safety code and can be a threat to the health and safety of the surrounding community and/or businesses. The Receivership Remedy can resolve complex issues that arise with rogue marijuana dispensaries as dispensaries become more and more common and the industry continues to inflate.