It is in the best interest of every municipality in California to address the blighted, abandoned, and dangerous properties that damage property values and create risks for the entire community. This is where a city receivership program comes in and can be highly beneficial for improving such situations.
Unfortunately, many of California’s neighborhoods are affected by blight. Property owners pass away without specifying who inherits the property, mental health problems prevent people from taking care of their properties, and hoarding disorder causes homeowners to lose control over their homes. Worse, unscrupulous landlords–often referred to as slumlords–create illegal conversions, fail to perform basic maintenance and sometimes abandon properties altogether.
No matter why a property may be blighted or abandoned in your community, there is an important legal tool at your disposal: the receivership remedy.
Your city can use a city receivership program to address abandoned properties, which in turn makes your community safer.
An abandoned property receivership is a legal solution for problematic properties that have not been able to be resolved by other measures, such as code enforcement or community outreach. After being petitioned by a stakeholder, the courts appoint a receiver to serve as a neutral third party.
Once appointed, a receiver can perform several actions to address the problems at the property, including issues related to structural damage, trash and hazardous waste, illegal occupants, and more.
Specifically, a receiver can:
Abandoned properties don’t go away on their own. They typically never resolve themselves.
They create more and more problems for the people who live in and around them. Among other things, abandoned properties are responsible for:
The process of securing a receiver takes time, but it is not particularly complicated. City and county representatives in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and other regions with large and small populations have been able to resolve troubled properties in less than a year when using a city receivership program.
The step-by-step process usually looks something like this:
As you can see, the process requires time and attention to detail, but it is also an achievable process that many California cities have already put to use.
Richardson “Red” Griswold has been appointed over 200 times in 22 counties to serve as a court-appointed receiver in California. One of those cases was by the Shasta County Superior Court, which appointed Mr. Griswold to address the dangerous conditions at a 59-unit motel in Redding called the Americana Lodge.
Check out our video with the full story, including pictures of the property– before and after our involvement.
The Americana Lodge went from a threat to the community to a thriving asset.
We’re here to talk–our team at Griswold Law can answer your questions and support your city as you make things safer for everyone in the community.
To learn more, download our Abandoned Property Receiverships Whitepaper, which is full of useful information for you and the other decision-makers in your city.
We look forward to talking with you about how we can help you improve your community. Contact us today with your questions or to schedule a time to talk.