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November 20, 2012 (San Diego)—By a 5-3 vote, San Diego’s City Council voted last week to pass the Property Value Protection Ordinance (PVPO) aimed at helping banks clean up blighted foreclosure properties. It requires banks to register with the city and pay a $76 fee whenever they take action to foreclose a home. The registry makes it possible to immediately identify the bank responsible for a blighted property, and the fee revenue will increase code enforcement staff to hold banks accountable for neglected properties.
Normita Rodriguez at Center for Policy Initiatives called the action “a win for neighborhoods, homeowners and taxpayers throughout the city.” She added, “The leadership of Council Member David Alvarez, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and support from many other groups made the Property Value Protection Ordinance possible.”
More than 70 other cities in California have enacted similar registries. In San Diego, where there still are about 7,000 foreclosures a year, it is the last piece of a three-policy package that sets responsible banking standards and fines for abandoned properties that are left blighted.
CPI's report last year, Foreclosure: The Cost Communities Pay, estimated that each abandoned property costs local governments between $5,000 and $34,000 in police and fire calls, inspections and maintenance. Besides saving those costs, the new policies will help stop the slide in property values of neighboring homes, which has cost San Diego homeowners an estimated $19 billion.
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