Temecula Set To Keep Track Of Foreclosed Houses
To keep track of foreclosed houses Temecula has taken the novel step of starting a registry. It wants the lenders to lend a hand for the safety and cleanliness of the city. Councilperson Maryann Edwards admitted that although nothing can be done to put a stopper on foreclosures something could be done to update lists on empty foreclosed houses.
Edward and her team have been working for months to find out ways to address the problem of safety and health of the city arising from the innumerable foreclosed houses. Last week the city council passed an ordinance that aimed to lessen the negative results of the foreclosure crisis. She reiterated that although “no community is immune from economic distress” some cities are more affected than others. Here the role of the community comes into play to lessen the impact.
The ordinance has come in for criticism. It will require of the lenders who own the abandoned foreclosed houses to register these with the city authorities. This will make it easy for them to be contacted if and when maintenance problems arose. The lenders would be penalized if they failed in their responsibilities as owners of the units. Although violation may lead to imposition of penalties the underlying idea of the city fathers is to get cooperation from the lenders. During the foreclosure process the houses must be kept clean and safe. The registration will add teeth to the endeavours of the local authorities to keep the city shipshape. Registration will not entail any expenditure. But if life-threatening situations arise due to abandonment of houses strong legal action will be taken. For example it will be expected that all pools will have safety fences for protection of straying children.
Edwards reiterated that only in cases of extreme emergency would the authorities step in to drain the pool, for instance. There are liability issues at stake. The city does not want to intrude upon property rights. A fine line has to be drawn.
The neighbours of the foreclosed houses should be the first ones to report any out of the ordinary happenings. The next step would be to contact the code enforcement department of the city to check if it has been properly registered with the city authorities. If it has not been done then within 24 hours strong steps will be taken and a search will be made for the rightful owner.
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