City’s Homes Foreclosed for Sale Prevention Program Awarded

The city of Chula Vista in California has received the 2009 Helen Putnam Award for its program designed to prevent homes foreclosed for sale from becoming blights to neighborhoods. Since the city launched the program in 2007, over 400 cities across the country want to follow the same program pioneered by Chula Vista. And so far, over 300 cities have already implemented the program.

Because of the success of the Residential Abandoned Property Program, the League of California Cities decided to bestow an award on the city to recognize its efforts to alleviate the effects of the foreclosure crisis.

The program involves requiring lenders to register and maintain properties they have foreclosed to neighborhood standards. The maintenance includes cleaning and keeping the lawns green, locking fences and doors and repairing windows that have been broken.

The city government wants lenders to make the homes foreclosed for sale similar to non-foreclosed houses in the neighborhoods so that nobody would know that they are unoccupied and thus, prevent any possibility of break-ins.

Manager of the code enforcement division of Chula Vista, Doug Leeper explained that the program, which he helped develop, is designed to be a preventive measure. He said that he does not want new houses to become blighted due to the growing number of repo homes.

Under the program, lenders are required to register properties that are vacant, in default or have been foreclosed, with the city. The registration fee amounted to $70. In some cases, foreclosed properties were not registered until after the local government receives complaints that the properties are becoming dilapidated.

Jim Sandoval, city manager, said that the initiative has made a big difference and significant impact on Chula Vista and other cities across the country. He added that Chula Vista is one of the cities across the country that has been severely affected by the foreclosure crisis.

Leeper said that he relished the award received by Chula Vista because it is not often that the California League of Cities would recognize a code enforcement program.

Since 2007, the city posted almost 9,000 foreclosures requiring the local government to hire more employees to handle the growing number of homes foreclosed for sale. So far, 2,600 vacant and foreclosed properties have been registered in the city, generating $183,000 fees.

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