Foreclosing Lenders Getting Hammered In Chula Vista; Fines From Blight-Prevention Ordinance Soar; Law May Be Nat'l Model As Other Cities Follow Suit

In Chula Vista, California, the San Diego Union Tribune reports:

• [O]ver the past year, the [Chula Vista blight-preventio, foreclosed home] ordinance written by [city code-enforcement manager Doug] Leeper has become a national model for communities overwhelmed by spikes in foreclosures, analysts say. Hit hard by the mortgage market meltdown, Chula Vista has taken a strong stance against lenders and loan servicers who allow abandoned houses to become neighborhood eyesores.

***

• So far, the city has levied $850,000 in fines and penalties and collected a little more than $200,000. In addition, Chula Vista has brought in about $77,000 through vacant-home registration fees imposed by the ordinance. Uncollected fines become liens against foreclosed properties, payable at resale.

***

• Leeper said more than 300 jurisdictions nationwide have contacted him to learn more about the ordinance over the past year. Although most are in California, inquiries have come from such distant cities as Boston, Milwaukee and Dallas.

For more, see Blight-prevention law emerges as a national model (Chula Vista forces lenders to maintain foreclosures).