By Eye on Peabody
Responding to safety concerns about abandoned and dilapidated homes in some Peabody neighborhoods, Mayor Ted Bettencourt this week announced that the city would participate in the Abandoned Housing Initiative, sponsored by the Mass. Attorney General’s office.
The idea of the program is to help bring these neglected properties up to code. The Attorney General’s Abandoned Housing Initiative assigns blighted properties to court-appointed third party receivers. Those receivers assume full responsibility for bringing the property into compliance with state and city building code regulations.
Here are some of the details from a press release issued through the mayor’s office:
To join the program, the mayor directed the city’s Code Enforcement division to create an inventory of problem properties within the city. Problem properties include those which have fallen into disrepair and for which there has been no response from the owner of record when the city sought repairs. The city submitted a total of 12 properties to the AGO for possible inclusion in the program.
After conducting a title search on each property, the Attorney General’s office typically provides notice to all parties who may have an interest in title as to the conditions of their property and allows them to make the necessary repairs to avoid a receivership action. If the parties in interest are unable/unwilling to make the necessary repairs at the property, the AG will petition the appropriate court to enforce the state sanitary code and for appointment of a receiver.
OG says…hats off to Teflon Ted for signing us up for this ! may force some much needed action…albeit only a few at a time but OG says that he will take what we can get…