Palm Beach County Is Introducing New Codes for Vacant Foreclosed Houses

palm-beach-foreclosure-homes

One of the worst fallout from the foreclosure crisis is the curse of abandoned homes. There are thousands of them dotting the entire country. The local administration is no longer willing to wait for Washington to take steps. Palm Beach County is one of the many regions, introducing new rules for vacant foreclosed houses. The houses attract criminals, drug peddlers and prostitutes. The unkempt gardens and stagnant pools become breeding grounds for rodents, snakes and disease carrying mosquitoes.

The neglected yards turn into dumping spots. The entire mood of decay tells on the adjacent houses and brings down the prices of even those houses that are not in foreclosure. With real estate market coming to a grind the local administration revenue collection suffers and this in turn leads to budget cuts and reduction in quality and quantity of services offered to the citizens to lead normal peaceful lives.

Recently the commissioners of Palm Beach County agreed to enforcement of new regulations that will permit boarding up of abandoned houses. Hitherto it was expected of the owners to do so but with the borrowers themselves drowning and abandoning the houses it became an unreal expectation.

The banks wiggled out of the responsibility quoting technicalities in the law. Meanwhile the communities suffered. The authorities are flooded with complaints regarding these derelict foreclosed houses. Previously the county would not allow the boarding of these houses with planks.

Also new mowing instructions were laid down. The vegetation on any unit would not be allowed to exceed 7”. Previously the limit had been 18”.

The owners would now be expected to pay for the boarding up of the units and the mowing. But concerns were raised about whether the plan would be realistic and viable. There are many problems – the departing owners are reluctant and also unable to attend to repairs.

They ignore code enforcement warnings. The new owners, the banks, refuse to do anything until they get the title deed – this being a time consuming process.

The owners will now be fined $1,000 daily but if the owners are in distress this sort of law will not work said Commissioner Steven Abrams. It has been suggested that fines could be lessened for the foreclosure victims but remain as it is or increased for the banks that ignore the houses even during the run of the foreclosure, suggested Commissioner Burt Aaronson. He firmly stated, “The banks have to work with us. We are bailing out the bank.”