Melrose Crafts Law to Manage Foreclosure Homes for Sale

To prevent vacant distressed foreclosure homes for sale from causing blight in Melrose, Massachusetts, city officials have been discussing a proposal to require banks and lenders to register with city hall any foreclosed property within 14 days after foreclosure and eviction.

The proposed ordinance would require an initial registration fee of $250 and provision of the owner's updated contact information. For foreclosed properties that have been vacant for less than a year, an annual registration fee of at least $500 would be paid and for foreclosed properties that have been vacant for 3 years or more, up to $3,000 in annual registration fees would be paid by the owner.

If the owner fails to register the vacant property, identify the real owner of the property, name the property management company in charge of the property or maintain the property, a fine of $300 would be required for each violation.

Rob Van Campen, city solicitor who presented the proposal at a meeting of the Appropriations Committee, said that Melrose has not been battered by foreclosures as severely as other cities, but there are repossessed properties across the city whose owners cannot be reached because the identities of the owners could not be ascertained.

Building and health officials have been having difficulties in enforcing city codes because of lack of information concerning the owners of the vacant properties.

Van Campen explained that the registration ordinance has been implemented in other Massachusetts cities like Cambridge, Boston, Springfield and in other cities in the West which have been battered by foreclosures.

Initially, the city aldermen expressed doubts about the proposed ordinance because of their concerns about enforceability and the possibility that the proposal is a duplication of a provision in the building code.

Ruth Clay, health director for the Melrose-Wakefield area, explained that the city has a law on public health nuisance, but it has not been applicable in several situations. She added further that several infractions such as overgrown grasses do not violate the building code.

According to Clay, the city has also been using mosquito control regulations to force owners to clean and maintain swimming pools.

Van Campen reiterated that his proposal does not cover homes that are still in the foreclosure process and that the high fees would force property owners to maintain the vacant properties or have them occupied by responsible buyers as soon as possible.

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