Would any L.A. area agents know if this has actually passed and is now an ordinance or if it is still in the proposal stages?

Is this deja vu, all over again?

If you have seen the recent video of unfinished homes being bulldozed in Victorville, Ca. then we all know this was the result of the $1,000 per day fine being levied against REO's which are not maintained or substandard. It is such a shame that the bank could not have donated those unfinished homes to a charity like Habitat for Humanity.
California is getting out of control and the City of the Angels is now also known as The City of Entitlement.

If they thought selling houses was difficult in this market , wait until they have the fun of selling dirt.

CD, most cities in my area have already established the 'registration of vacant REO's. A few cities in particular, Pomona,(will vote on May 18th) Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario have already established a cost of $78.00 per year to register the properties.

Just recently I registered a property in Ontario, and now we are ready to close escrow and a 'substandard' housing lien has been placed on the property! To have it removed will require a letter of responsibility from the buyer and $775 dollars to have the lien removed.

This is just another way for the cities to collect 'big dollars' from the bank. And once the property is registered, the cities can cut back on 'code enforcement' personnel by knowing exactly where the vacant properties are, they won't have to ride around looking for them!

Registering does open up a huge can of worms, doesn't it? Sure keeps the code compliance officer busy. And your bank account empty.

last weeks lenders bulldozering story was my favorite. No empty building regisration necessary there...

Greed chokes. If these cities weren't so hard up for revenue, they would probably think a little clearer instead of trolling for votes from the California entitlement majority, by coming up with these outrageous $1,000 per day fines. I expect a lot more banks which own vacant properties in California will start deeding them to the cities since the fines will be way more than the properties are worth. Jingle mail in reverse.

Now if the city elected clowns had been a little more leveled headed I would agree that perhaps a situation where a sixty day notice, followed by a thirty day notice to the banks followed with about say $100 a day fine until the properties are secured or cleaned up. The cites would stand to earn a lot more revenue this way.

I recently listed a home outside of my area and to my surprise they had an ordinance for maintaining and registering REO homes. Something about abandonment, neighborhood compliance, yada, yada, yada. There was basically a stipulation that you maintain the landscaping, paid a $50 registration fee and also kept utilities on.

I had no idea of the ordinance until there was a nasty poster posted on the door. A "you betta comply or else" type poster.

For all of you Los Angeles agents here is the NEW ORDINACE from The City of Los Angeles on Foreclosures.

Below are the facts of this new ordinance: The City of Los Angeles Foreclosure Registry Effective July 8, 2010


1. Registration fee: $155-Per Property for 1 year. Must be done on properties who currently have a NOTICE OF DEFAULT, including occupied homes, within 10 days of the NOD being recorded. OR for all current properties that “qualify”/”meet requirements” have 30 days from date of ordinance (Aug. 7, 2010). CHECKS AND REGISTRATIONS ARE DONE THROUGH The Los Angeles Housing Dept.
2. If property is occupied, it must be inspected monthly by the beneficiary or his designee.
3. If property is vacant, weekly inspections must be made, maintain property free of debris, trash, lawns well kept, etc.
4. Failure to comply with registration of foreclosed property, the beneficiary/trustee shall pay a fine of $250 per day.
5. Any responsible person in charge of structure may be liable for an administrative penalty of $1,000 per structure per day, NTE $100,000 per calendar, unless:
-statement of intent has been filed and approved by superintendent
- Building has been posted as required by Section 98.0714 of this code
- One of the following: A: Structure is an active building permit for repair, rehab, pr demolition and owner is proceeding in good faith to complete the repair, rehab or demo. B: The structure is maintained compliant w/this division and is actively being offered for rent, sale or lease. C: Responsible person can demonstrate that he or she made diligent and good faith to implement the actions set forth in the statement of intent w/timeline contained.
- If the structure continues to meet the def. of Vacant structure beyond the initial 30 calendar days and the responsible person does not meet any of the exceptions set forth in this section, Superintendent may impose the $1,000 penalty per structure per day.

6. Post on the property the property managers name, address and 24hr contact phone.

7. The registration of the foreclosed property shall NOT apply if the lender has registered the property through MERS (Mortgage Electric Registration System). The bank can advise us/listing agent if it is registered w/MERS.

8. You must report any change (lender contact info, change in address, no longer vacant, etc) within 10 days of change (COE) to the LAHD.



I have attached a copy of the ordinance, registration form and some info for review, and below is the link for this info:

http://lahd.lacity.org/lahdinternet/ForeclosureInformation/tabid/418/Default.aspx


Good luck!

This is going to turn into a nighmare for everyone involved.

Here - if the property has been cited for a code violation, and there has not been any response, then it must be registered. This is why I keep such an eye on our properties, if I see any code violations, I call code enforcement and make sure any violations are corrected. Registration is only required if there is no correction of the violation. They are just trying to keep the properties maintained. If your property has been "tagged" a 8 1/2 x 11 orange sticker, then anyone entering the property must have the city form permitting them to enter. Ya, right. Never heard of anyone being arrested, but they say it can happen.

For my state, I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. So many of these REO's aren't maintained. It was just a matter of time before LA came up with a plan that can be a "cash cow" for the city. My biggest fear is other cities will follow suit......time will tell.

Thanks Recovering for the link.

I did see the little mayor of Los Angeles along with his little acorns using their newly passed lopsided ordinance as a photo and campaign op. on TV the day the ordinance went into effect.

I don't suppose the L.A. City Council members are able to read properly or use a dictionary for the definition of real estate terms they do not understand.

In their rush to generate revenue and votes, they are highly likely to open themselves up to lawsuits.

For instance, how in the world, can any one hold the lenders responsible for a property after filing a Notice of Default. The lenders do not own the property. Can you see lenders sending a work crew to clean up an owner occupied property and get charged with trespassing? Are we as real estate agents expected to act as enforcers for the city council and get assaulted verbally or physically by owners who are struggling to get back on their feet by bringing their loan current in one way or another.

So, once the lenders throw in the towel when the fees are higher than the property is worth, will the city council now take these properties over by eminent domain, renovate and convert them for low income applicants? We go right back to Los Angeles being the City of Entitlement.

You think real estate loans are hard to get now, it will get worse with these type of strong arm tactics the L.A. City council is wielding, when coupled with their "worse in the nation" rent control laws.

Oh, so glad I'm in Riverside county. Several of the cities do have ordinances to maintain the properties, but not like this in LA. One thing that I see, is this will affect realtors that list short sales.

This is not going to be fun! How many of the lenders are going to approve payoff of these fines when it comes to approving the short sales? I figure they are probably going to want the buyer to eat these costs as well!

Yes, it's moronic the way the City of L.A. is trying desperately to collect revenues from the depressed real estate market. I agree with you some lenders may want to file a law suit against the city in response to this tactics.

I haven't done any registrations but will start filling out the paperwork just in case the clients approve the registration. Let's see what's next.

Just watch this video:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7455797

Everyone wants to take the banks to task for the disrepair of all the foreclosed homes but I'm sure the majority of you probably see the same thing I see and that is: by the time we get them the homes are already wasted. They're beating the wrong dead horse.
Of course, that's not the real point now is it? The real point is contained in the last line of that article. This ordinance and those like it are just a "fundraiser". It's of no consequence to them that the property deteriorated under the watch of the former owner. It's always someone else's fault...

This new law is so ridiculous!!! We can not register the properties if the bank does not provide us with the paperwork when they filed the first NOD. Fundraiser is not the word, Greed is the word here for these politicians.

The real capper here is that no one should be registering (or responsible for) a property they don't own yet. Regardless of whether the loan holder/servicer is a bank or some other type of entity. What if the "lender" was a senior citizen holding the note on a seller carry back?

The nightmare for the REO lenders in the City Of The Angels is in its REM mode.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/20...ions.html?lanow

If link does not work, please cut and paste.