Nobody home? City wants someone to call

Law aims to provide local representative of vacant property to contact in case of violations

Chardon City officials are working to strengthen efforts to address property-maintenance complaints.

City Council recently approved an ordinance establishing registration requirements for vacant residential properties.

The legislation was borne out of a meeting between the city administration and some residents regarding concerns about the appearance of neighboring properties.

The ordinance mandates that owners of properties that are not currently occupied designate someone living in Geauga County that can be contacted to address and be held accountable for property maintenance violations on the site.

Law Director Ben Chojnacki explained the situation.

“The challenge that we’ve sometimes identified … is that you’ll run into situations where you have a bank-owned property you want to restore or preserve, or attempt to facilitate some degree of compliance with the property maintenance code, but you’re unable to do so because there’s not a person who you can reach who can get to the property quickly and address the concern,” he said.

Councilman Chris Grau asked whether designees would be responsible for subsequent fines if there is a violation.

Chojnacki said no, the fine would stay with the titled owner.

“It would be something we would certify to the county for placement on the tax duplicate for reimbursement upon transfer of the property to a new owner,” he said.

Some councilmen questioned how prevalent the problem is.

“The general consensus from our discussions is that it isn’t a major, frequent problem,” Chojnacki said, noting that the main complaint from residents is that some vacant properties are being used as storage yards rather than homes.

Community Development Administrator Steve Yaney said there was only one property of which he was aware that was in such a state and the property owner is local.

He said there are some gray areas, particularly in the case of foreclosures.

“This isn’t a fix all by any means,” he said.

“There’s a fine line between something that people find to be distasteful and a true property maintenance violation,” meaning a health, safety or welfare concern, he added.

Vacant residential properties must be registered

with the city and an authorized agent within Geauga County be designated within 60 days of the property becoming vacant. Homes for sale are exempt.

Other ordinance highlights include:

• The registration shall remain valid for one year and the owner must annually renew it as long as the primary residence remains vacant.

• The annual registration fee is $50 for each registered residence.

• The owner shall notify the community development administrator within 20 days of any change in the registration information by filing an amended registration statement on a form provided by the administrator.

• The failure of the owner(s) of a vacant primary residence to obtain a deed for the property or to file the deed with the county recorder shall not excuse the owner from compliance.

• If a foreclosure action has been filed with respect to property containing a vacant primary residence, the plaintiff in the foreclosure action shall be required to comply with the following

provisions: The plaintiff is a mortgagee of the property and has assumed possession or control of it.

• The registration statement shall include the name, street address and telephone number of a person 18 years of age or older, designated by the owner or owners as the authorized agent for receiving, on behalf of such owner or owners, notices of violations and receiving process, in any court proceeding or administrative enforcement proceeding related to the property.

• “Vacant” means a structure which is lacking habitual presence of human beings who have a legal right to be on the premises, or at which substantially all lawful residential occupancy has ceased, or which is substantially devoid of contents.

Violators of the ordinance will be guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor and may be fined up to $1,000, imprisoned up to six months, or both, for each offense.

For more information, contact the city at 440286-2600 or visit chardon. cc.