Dekalb County Property Condemnation- Does it stop if property is sold? (Atlanta: appointed, for sale)

[learning11]

I have had an open case with Dekalb County code enforcement for 3 years on an abandoned house overgrown with huge weeds/trash and of course the structure is ready to collapse to have the house condemned and the house demolished. After 3 years of following up with the code enforcement officer each month pushing for progress i was told the condemnation was completed and now they were just waiting for the county to fund the event. Now i am told the house was recently sold to an investor and that the condemnation has ended and the same process would need to be started again against the new owner (if it is true there is a new owner they have not done anything to fix all the problems). Have i been lied to by Dekalb officials? I thought a condemnation was like property taxes, doesn't matter who owns it either stays with the property?

[netdragon]

If an investor bought it, you may want to get in contact with the investor who bought it, be nice, and see if they plan to fix it up or at least secure it adequately and keep the yard clean. :-)

Don't know about how condemnation works in such a case.

[lastminutemom]

Have you reached out to your commissioner?

[learning11]

This was the commissioners assistant's response:

Thanks for your patience. You are correct, this property is no longer in the condemnation (in rem) process. From what I understand, in the process, which can last some years, It was purchased and/or acquired in November 2012, making the new owners responsible for property upkeep. Code Enforcement has made contact with the property owners and have issued warning notices for compliance within 14 days for grass maintenance, debris removed and the property secured/boarded up. Additional warning/citations will follow.


Hope an attorney who knows about condemnations will respond. I can't believe the sale would stop a condemnation as all an owner would have to do is deed to the property to another entity they control and the process is ended??? Also, again i was told the condemnation was completed and that the county was just waiting for funding. That the property sold in November 2012 is very suspicious as there was never a for sale sign at the property nor any type of auction notice....

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by learning11

as there was never a for sale sign at the property nor any type of auction notice....

That's typical in wholesale house purchasing. I bought a wholesale property in Atlanta from another investor without it ever getting FMLS listed or officially going up for sale. That's just how it works when foreclosed or distressed properties are flipped from big investors through successively smaller ones.

Usually, the investor has to put effort forth to fix it up before they can ever think of selling it retail.

In a market like this, I doubt it's going to stay vacant or unsold for too long. By the time you went through the whole thing again, it'll probably be sold again.

However, don't think they get off scott free. The court cases are very serious and fines pretty heavy. Even the last owner probably has outstanding fines that he/she has to pay or will get a writ of fi-fa executed against him or her which gives the sheriff permission to seize assets to repay. If they don't show to court, then the judgement is automatic. And the owners get served, even if they are in another state. At least in Atlanta, and I assume Dekalb isn't much different.

[netdragon]

It really is worth a try contacting the owner yourself and saying you are the neighbor and hope they clean up the property and board up the house. Try to run a big guilt trip. That kind of pressure can work pretty well. These are investors, not in-human monsters. Assuming it isn't bank-owned.

[learning11]

Several years ago the property was taken over by dekalb county (owner died without a will ) who appointed an estate trustee to oversee the property, but there was very little cash to maintain and the attorney didn't have the balls to sell the property for what it was worth and be done with it. In my opinion he was milking his arrangement... So it should have been sold through conventional means, not any type of bundled bank sale.

Yes, i will try to contact the new owner, but think it is more effective to have code enforcement fine the owner as that seems to be the only incentive for the new owner to repair or clean up the property. There are 3 acres associated with the house and it is by a traffic light so this is probably a long term hold play by the new owner.

Typical dysfunctional county and irresponsible owner and thus am trying to light a fire under both their feet!

[Nakitawms1]

I would think the county would solicit investors to purchase these properties in order to avoid the financial burden associated with the tear-down. However, I think measures should be in place giving investors a deadline for securing the property, landscaping and completing the repairs.

Anyone have additional information about purchasing condemned properties?