SPOKANE — The Spokane City Council is considering creating a registry of abandoned homes as a way to prevent them from slipping into disrepair.
The council is scheduled on Monday to consider an ordinance that would require banks or other responsible parties to register all abandoned homes in the city. The parties also would be required to provide a local contact to respond to property problems such as broken windows or graffiti, The Spokesman-Review reported.
The idea is to deter vandalism and ensure that vacant properties are maintained and in good condition and to protect the value of the property and the surrounding area, according to the ordinance.
Spokane City Councilwoman Amber Waldref said banks and mortgage lenders will be held accountable for properties they’ve foreclosed on, keeping them in good condition and protecting neighborhood character.
She estimates about 300 abandoned homes would have to be registered. The city registry would include properties that are abandoned and under foreclosure, trustee’s sale, tax assessor’s lien sale, deed transfer in lieu of foreclosure or subject to a contract, the newspaper reported.
The city would require an annual $200 fee for each property. A private company would be hired to create and maintain the registry. Failing to register a property would result in a $500 civil fine.
There were 1,230 properties foreclosed in the county in 2013, 713 in 2012 and 1,146 in 2011, according to the Spokane County Auditor’s Office.
Corey Oberst, president-elect of the Spokane Mortgage Lenders Association, supports the registry. But he worried it wouldn’t go far enough to prevent houses from falling into substandard condition, something he said banks already try to avoid because it devalues the assets.
David Eagle, a homeowner in the Chief Garry neighborhood, said a house next door to his home has been vacant for five years.
The lawn was out of control. And before the city boarded the house up, squatters “made a mess of it,” said Eagle, an associate professor of finance at Eastern Washington University.
“It’s a problem throughout the city, not just my neighborhood,” said Eagle, who supports a registry as a first step.
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