Receivership for Abandoned Properties
We’re often asked, “How can we pursue nuisance abatement at a property when we can’t find its owner?” Abandoned or “orphan” properties are a large problem since the lack of basic maintenance magnifies problems over time. Yet, an enforcement agency can apply local and statewide building codes even if the owner of a nuisance property is out of the state, incarcerated, deceased, or simply unknown. Strategies available to municipalities and counties to address vacant or occupied orphan properties that have become nuisances includes the use of the health and safety receivership remedy.
What Counts as an Orphan Property?
A property for which there is no person (human or corporate) who claims ownership or responsibility, as well as associated nuisance conditions due to the lack of responsible oversight. These are not properties that have been left alone for a short period of time. These are properties that are abandoned long-term, where that abandonment is having an impact on the neighborhood because the lack of oversight is causing problems. This could include the following situations:
Deceased owner
Unlawful occupation or squatting
Incarcerated owner
Occupants who are related to the title holder but unable to maintain the property
Occupants with mental health issues
Dangerous conditions including criminal activity, physical decay of the property, increased fire risk, and interior and exterior hoarding
See how we’ve turned “orphan” properties around in these profiles of abandoned nuisance properties in receivership.
Abandoned Properties in Receivership
The Court approved a full rehabilitation of this nuisance property through a health and safety receivership. California Receivership Group worked with a local contractor to breathe new life into this long-abandoned building. The interior was cleaned out and stripped down to its studs, and the water-damaged roof was demolished. Once complete, construction was able to take off at an exceptional rate. The home was rebuilt and ready to be sold within 104 days, a record at C.R.G. to fully rehabilitate a dilapidated property. C.R.G added brand new windows, a new roof, appliances, floors, and much more to this property to make it ready for its next stage of becoming a place someone could call home again. The transformation achieved through the health and safety receivership remedy to this Los Angeles County property positively impacted its new owners and the surrounding neighborhood.
Sadly, ownership changed hands and the property fell into disrepair. Upon our appointment by a Superior Court Judge, we found the 62-room hotel to be very poorly maintained with guests living in extremely unsanitary conditions. Rooms were soiled, some lacked running water, part of the roof was wide open allowing pigeons to roost inside, the hotel was infested with pests, and there were multiple broken windows. The hotel didn’t just lack basic amenities, it was also dangerous. A ceiling had collapsed in the basement, dry rot and exposure to the elements had damaged the structural integrity, there were unpermitted and unsafe modifications to the building, and electrical and plumbing installations were shoddy.
Originally built over a century ago, poor maintenance left this beautiful, Folk Victorian style home in a state of extreme disrepair. After seven years of local code enforcement efforts to encourage the owners to act on fixing the hazardous issues onsite were unsuccessful, we were appointed as the Receiver by a Superior Court Judge. We found the property structurally unsound, with hoarding conditions inside the house, as well as a major rodent and insect infestation. Neighbors were plagued by foul odors emanating from the property and accumulated junk, as well as overgrown landscaping, littered the exterior of the property leaving an eyesore that partially blocked the public sidewalk. We determined that the best cause of action was to renovate this historic property and remove the dangerous conditions.
In the eight years preceding our appointment this property was deserted, the run-down structure abandoned and left to rot. Years of neglect put the house at risk of collapsing and it subsisted with an accumulation of dirt and debris. The shabby exterior was an eyesore that blighted the otherwise well-maintained neighborhood and due to its precarious foundation and lack of maintenance, it was a danger to the surrounding community. City officials attempted to work with the owners to remedy the perilous conditions onsite but their efforts fell on deaf ears.
This severely dilapidated property was left in ruin. Lack of oversight allowed pigeons to literally take it over. Upon inspection, we found that the roof was rotting through and there was no protection from the elements for about one-third of the house, leaving it extremely unsanitary and dangerous to be inside. It appeared to have been at least 10 years since the property was inhabited, and potentially longer since any maintenance had been done. Indeed, the property was an eyesore that stood out in the quiet, well-maintained neighborhood. Less than half a mile from an elementary and middle school, the property was an attractive nuisance to children who may have been inclined to wander on to it.
This abandoned property plagued its surrounding community for almost a decade. That’s when the municipality decided enough was enough and petitioned the court to appoint CRG to takeover as receiver. Ten months later, the property looked dramatically different with the nuisance conditions completely abated. Shortly after a new family moved into this home decreasing the likelihood of further issues onsite.
A quiet neighborhood was plagued by a property owner who was operating an illegal junkyard across 12 residential lots. Shipping containers and other debris were used to fence around some of the properties, partially concealing numerous items including inoperable vehicles, shopping carts, tires, old appliances, and scrap metal. The majority of lots were vacant, but one lot had a single-family home in poor condition on it where debris was stacked up against it and junk strewn throughout the exterior. Another lot contained a burned-out structure that was not fit for human habitation, but which was occupied in some capacity. In addition to these hazardous conditions, occupants had trailed extension cords through windows to get electricity from one area of the property to another.
A popular ski town was threatened by a large home that endangered occupants and adjacent properties due to its unstable foundation, incomplete and languishing construction work, as well as a general lack of maintenance onsite. Construction work had been started on the home, but that work lay unfinished for months, which turned into years, permits expired and the structure further deteriorated. Trash and construction debris littered the interior and exterior of the home. Blighted conditions were visible from the street and the property was clearly vacant, with broken windows and an unhinged door, providing an attractive nuisance and clear opening for transients and curious children. Further inspection by the municipality confirmed that transients had in fact taken advantage of this opening and were living inside the hazardous structure. Crucially, the foundation was at risk as it had been set on an elevated but eroded patch of land and needed to be shored up.
It was almost impossible to see this home from the street. Overgrown, dry, and dead vegetation surrounded the house, closing in on the structure. Junk and inoperable vehicles crowded both the front and back yards, and the property was out of place in the clean, quiet neighborhood. But the visual blight was not the only issue that this property presented to this community.
After over two years of enforcement efforts to get the owner of this property to bring their home into compliance, the municipality red-tagged the house deeming it unfit for habitation due to the conditions onsite. Issues included no electricity or running water, piles of junk, evidence of pest infestation, human waste, unmaintained landscaping, and structural inadequacy.
Controlled practice burns are good for both the neighborhood and for firefighters, and these particular properties were found by a court to meet the criteria for demolition. This unique approach fits when a variety of factors exist: the nuisance property is not physically and financially salvageable; the nuisance conditions will not jeopardize the safety of firefighters or neighboring properties; and environmental and weather conditions will not spread the fire beyond a controlled area.
Given its location in a college town, we were surprised to find that this property had extreme hoarder conditions. Items were strewn about in piles that in some cases touched the ceiling. Every available surface was utilized and even the rats had died. The house appeared to have been deserted and there were signs that squatters had broken in and resided inside. The accumulation of debris was a significant fire hazard in addition to the degradation of the structure from lack of maintenance. We were able to completely rehabilitate this property, clean it out and fix the violations of state and municipal health and safety codes.
Prior to our appointment, this single-family home was left littered with accumulated trash and debris. There was significant damage to the roof, floors, walls, and ceilings, and it was not safe to be inside. The lack of maintenance of the property made it a haven for squatters and the home was the target of repeated break-ins. With very low marketable value, it was a challenge to find the most economical path to correcting the state and municipal health and safety code violations onsite.
This abandoned house was in very poor condition when we were appointed. Not only was there an accumulation of junk and debris, faulty electrical wiring and inadequate plumbing, but the roof was also severely damaged and there was an extensive leak. The exposed roof, combined with the lack of ceiling and wall insulation in parts of the structure, meant that it was riddled with mold and dry rot, which also compromised the structural integrity of the building and it was at risk of collapse.
A Superior Court Judge appointed us to remove the dangerous conditions at this abandoned construction site that housed the frame of what could be a single-family residence. Yet, the owner deserted the property and the structure sat open to the elements, as well as vagrants who took to squatting inside. Having an unsecured construction site lay dormant indefinitely presents a significant hazard to the public and we needed to find a viable solution to ensure its safety in both the long and short run.
Built at the turn of the 20th century, this elegant 3-story hotel is on both the California and National Register of Historic Places. Once a hub for the community, the site of weddings, school proms, and the center of political gossip in the municipality, sadly this hotel has sat vacant and in various states of disrepair for over two decades.
When we were appointed to address the nuisance conditions at this property, we found that it had suffered extensive fire damage and was severely deteriorated. Structurally unsound, it had gaping holes in the floors, walls, and roof. The structural failure extended to the foundation and the building was partially collapsing in places, rendering it extremely hazardous to be onsite and unfit for habitation. Additionally, there was insufficient plumbing and no running water onsite. Piles of trash and debris were littered through the interior and exterior of the property. These included containers of decaying matter, clothing and used rags, sofas, mattresses, a boat, and a jet ski, as well as inoperable vehicles.
Neighbors complained consistently about this dilapidated nuisance property to local authorities in the fifteen years preceding California Receivership Group’s appointment as receiver by a Superior Court Judge under the California Health and Safety Code. Indeed, when it was inspected by municipal code enforcement, they found it to be extremely dilapidated, structurally unsound, filled with debris, and unsanitary due to repeated trespassing and vandalism. In total, there were 120 ongoing and dangerous violations of state and local health and safety laws. Remodeling this property was not simple, as it was in such bad shape that we needed to restore nearly every part and system in the house. After the renovation, this home is almost unrecognizable from the degraded state it was in before.
What was intended to be an elegant home, sat as an unfinished construction site for over two decades. Work that had been started in the 1990s was nowhere near completion in 2018 when we arrived onsite following our appointment by the Superior Court. Significant problems included the unsafe storage of building materials, with some stacks over five feet in height, visible from the exterior and stacked against a neighboring property. Alarmingly, inside the house, overhead open beams were used to store large building materials. Further problems were the unfinished electrical work and an unfinished staircase, which was in use, as well as numerous exposed door frames, and visible signs of water damage across the two stories due to a leak.
When the street on which this property is located saw dwindling visitors following the construction of Interstate 5, many businesses in the area closed their doors, abandoning the buildings that housed them. With a building use that has low demand, a property can devolve into nuisance conditions, as happened in this case. See how CRG is making changes through health and safety receivership.
Fire damaged, structurally unsound and at risk of collapsing, this property was in very poor condition when we were appointed as the Receiver and it was dangerous to be onsite. The structure was full of trash, infested with pests, lacking electricity, heating, and running water. We have been able to completely remodel the structure and abate the numerous violations of municipal and state health and safety codes on the property.
With structural deficiencies including holes in the floors, walls, and ceilings, this building was dangerous to enter. Yet, broken windows, overgrown landscaping, and an accumulation of junk and debris visible from the street made it an attractive nuisance and it was continuously broken into, adding further problems for people living in the surrounding community. After seven years of code enforcement attempts to get the owner to address the conditions were unsuccessful, CRG was appointed by the superior court to takeover the property and create an abatement plan.
After the owner of this single-family home sadly passed away, leaving no will and no apparent heirs, the building began to decay. A series of break-ins occurred and those squatting inside the property hastened its degradation. The vacant home became a nuisance to the surrounding community, and the dangerous volume of trash and debris littered throughout the interior and exterior of the home presented a fire hazard as well as an eyesore. As there was little equity in the property, we needed to find an economical approach to rectify the state and municipal health and safety code violations onsite.
Over fifteen years of municipal code enforcement efforts yielded no results in gaining the owner’s compliance to remedy the issues afflicting this nuisance property in Alameda County. In fact, conditions only worsened as the home became the subject of a fire and multiple break-ins. Each time the house was broken into, it was the City who had to expend precious municipal resources to board up and secure the home. The fire made the property more dangerous and increased the likelihood that the structure would collapse. Nevertheless, transients continued to squat inside the house and it became a major source of crime and blight in the neighborhood. Through a health and safety receivership, the dangerous issues on-site were abated and the future of the property secured.
