Richmond Hires Inspectors To Crack Down On Foreclosure Blight

RICHMOND (KCBS) - Trash, construction debris and unsightly waste have been piling up at abandoned properties in the City of Richmond at a rate never seen before. Officials, in response, have vowed to get tough with fines as high as $1,000 per day for the offenses.

Richmond, during a time of deeps cuts to local government, has also been on something of a hiring spree, bringing in several dozen new code inspectors to make the rounds in neighborhoods most impacted by the foreclosure crisis.

KCBS' Tim Ryan Reports:
The Richmond Police Department's head of code enforcement placed the blame squarely on the banks who owned the foreclosed properties.

"That's the big issue here," lamented Tim Higares. "Banks are not property managing these properties correctly, which is in turn opening them up for, if we can't get to them in time, they become havens for criminal activity."

In the last fiscal year, Richmond lodged $600,000 in fines relating to trash at foreclosed properties on various banks and financial institutions.

According to Higares, blighted property is often cleared, with code enforcement officers finding new, illegal dumping at that site within hours.

"8 o'clock in the morning, my crew will go in and pick it up off the street, run up and dump it. And by 10 o'clock, there's another dump there," he explained. "For me to clean up one of these vacant properties, it's running me $7,000 to $10,000 because of the biohazards that are involved. I mean, there is no plumbing."

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