New Data on Local Vacant Property Registration Ordinances

AbstractThis article describes the Vacant Property Registration Ordinance Database, a new database of local vacant property registration ordinances (VPROs) in the United States. Beginning with an industry list, 550 ordinances were acquired, read, and coded on more than 30 characteristics. VPROs grew dramatically in 2008 and 2009, during the climax of the national foreclosure crisis, and the number of ordinances continued to grow after 2009, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. The database provides details on the coverage, requirements, and penalties specified in VPROs across the country.IntroductionBecause of the growth in vacant properties that stemmed from the foreclosure crisis, the United States has seen a major increase since the mid-2000s in the number of local governments enacting vacant property registration ordinances (VPROs). VPROs require property owners to register vacant and foreclosed properties with local government. VPROs often require owners of the registered properties to pay a periodic registration fee (which may increase as a property remains vacant for an extended period) and to maintain and secure properties in specified ways. They may also oblige property owners to carry a minimum amount of insurance or, in some cases, to provide a minimum bond or deposit. If requirements are not met, most VPROs specify fines and, in some cases, potential criminal penalties. As of May 2012, there were more than 550 local VPROs in the United States, increases from fewer than 20 VPROs in 2000 and fewer than 100 at the end of 2007.The proximate objectives of VPROs typically include providing better data on the extent and nature of vacant and foreclosed properties, having detailed and reliable contact information for property owners and managers, and reducing the harms and costs such properties pose to neighborhoods and local governments. Ultimately, proponents of VPROs may hope to discourage irresponsible investment by internalizing some of the social costs of vacant properties and holding owners accountable for not maintaining properties in a responsible manner.Before the development of the Vacant Property Registration Ordinance Database, limited information on VPROs had been available. Little comprehensive data had been compiled on the coverage of the ordinances, their requirements, and the penalties for noncompliance. The Vacant Property Registration Ordinance Database provides the sort of information necessary to examine how ordinances vary. Ultimately, the database could be used to evaluate the effects of different types of ordinances on local housing market conditions.Three fundamental types of VPROs exist: the Vacancy and Abandonment Model, the Foreclosure Model, and the Hybrid Model. The key difference among these models is the event that triggers the requirement to register properties and comply with the ordinance's other requirements. Vacancy and Abandonment-Model ordinances require property owners to register properties after a certain length of vacancy. Foreclosure-Model ordinances are ordinances in which registration is triggered by a formal, state-required notice of default or intent to foreclose that is filed as a part of a judicial proceeding or advertised by the mortgagee or servicer as a part of a nonjudicial foreclosure process. One reason that this model was developed was that localities were finding that some properties where foreclosures had been initiated were being vacated well before the foreclosure sale was complete and the property became owned by the mortgagee or another new owner (Martin, 2010; Schilling, 2009). Many more recently enacted ordinances share characteristics of the Vacancy and Abandonment Model and the Foreclosure Model, in that they can be triggered either by vacancy or by foreclosure-related actions. We classify such ordinances as following the Hybrid Model.Within these three ordinance types (the Vacancy and Abandonment, Foreclosure, and Hybrid Models), the specific terms and requirements vary greatly. …