PALM COAST-- Partly in response to foreclosures, Palm Coast officials are working on wielding a bigger legal hammer when property owners allow houses to turn into eyesores or neighborhood hazards.
The City Council will continue discussing at a workshop Tuesday rules giving the city more power to collect money faster when its crews must clean up or repair a dilapidated house. If the homeowner doesn't pay, the new ordinance would allow the city to place the charge right on the property owner's tax bill. If still unpaid, the city could eventually foreclose on the property.
The workshop begins at 9 a.m. at City Hall, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B-106.
The proposal could also give code enforcement officers more authority to demand entrance into a home, although that wouldn't mean they could just show up and demand to check a house, city staff said. The ordinance would also declare any house in the process of foreclosure as "abandoned real property" even if it is still occupied. That would shift responsibility to the bank or other institution foreclosing on the house, said City Manager Jim Landon.
"This is probably the most difficult to deal with," said Landon during a recent workshop. "You have somebody that's living in their home. They've quit making payments. They are not putting any time or money into that property because they know their time is limited. It's in that transition. The problem is that transition can take up to a year. I lived next to one of these. I know. It took about a year and a half before the bank finally took on responsibility."
During the workshop, city staff displayed pictures of past problems. One photo showed a home heavily damaged by fire. Another depicted a two-story house with boarded up windows and doors and graffiti scrawled on its red brick walls. Another shot showed stacks of rubbish, mattresses and furniture strewn on a front lawn.
Under current rules, the city could wait for years until a house is sold to collect on any liens it placed on the property. Putting the charge on the tax bill would speed up collection. If such a bill is unpaid, it would result in a tax lien and ultimately foreclosure, said city attorney William Reischmann.
To go the tax bill route, Palm Coast would have to establish a citywide special assessment district, Reischmann said. The tax lien would rank high in the hierarchy of liens, Reischmann said.
"It's only going to be on your tax bill if you fail to comply with the requirements," Reischmann said. "The city goes out and spends some money. You don't pay it then it gets put on your tax bill. If your property is fine, you're never really going to feel this."
The proposed rules would also give code enforcement more power to enter a house "as provided by law," said Community Development Director Nestor Abreu.
Mayor Jon Netts said the issue of the city's power to enter a house made him "very uncomfortable" and he wanted more information at a future workshop. If the house is not abandoned and there are no "horrific circumstances," Netts said he would not want to authorize government to enter a house.
Even if the person quits paying the mortgage and the bank moves to foreclose, Netts said, he would not want the city code enforcement officers to be able to enter a house unless there is some other health, safety or public welfare problem.
"I would just be very uncomfortable in my home, if somebody comes knocking on the door and saying I'm coming in and check your guard rail," Netts said.
A city staffer said code enforcement couldn't do that.
"Oh, I want to make sure you can't" Netts said.
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By the numbers
Palm Coast Code Enforcement numbers from May 2005 to December 2009:
8,384 notices issued
5,559 cases closed
2,715 cases opened
3,395 abatements, repairs made
$677,114 cost of abatements, repairs
$137,914 collected for abatements, repairs
$539,200 uncollected for abatements, repairs
Source: City of Palm Coast
