Stockton Ordinance Makes Lenders Responsible For Pre-Foreclosure Vacant Home Maintenance Under Threat Of Fines Up To $1K/Day

In Stockton, California, The Stockton Record reports:

• In an effort to fix the brown yards, broken windows and general disrepair of Stockton's spate of foreclosed homes, the City Council voted Tuesday to require banks and other property owners from out of town to hire contractors to maintain the vacant homes they own.

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• The council's 7-0 adoption of an abandoned and vacant property ordinance is intended to pressure banks and other property owners to maintain houses that are vacant but in early stages of foreclosure, sometimes several months before a foreclosure is final, Deputy City Attorney DeAnna Solina said.(1)

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• The ordinance adopted Tuesday defines an owner as anyone who has a mortgage or deed of trust on a property, City Attorney Ren Nosky said. [...] Property owners who fail to maintain vacant lots, houses or commercial buildings face daily fines of as much as $1,000. [...] A handful of other California agencies, including Riverside County and Chula Vista, have adopted similar ordinances.

For more, see Owners of vacant homes ordered to keep properties clean.

(1) According to the story, Leland Chan, senior vice president and general counsel of the California Bankers Association, has previously said the association is concerned about the legal consequences of requiring lenders - organizations that have rights as lien holders but have yet to obtain control of a vacant house - to maintain properties. The requirements could expose a lender to liability for trespass, for example, he said. ForeclosuresDestroyNeighborhoodsApple