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Can L&I force vacant land owners to shape up?
From the paper this week: L&I will begin a new push to go after the owners of vacant land; but whoa re the biggest players and are they going to be able to get at them?
Can L&I force vacant land owners to shape up?
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In this week's print edition (and as part of our "The Abandoned City,' , Anthony Campisi and I take a look at a brand-new initiative by the city's Department of Licensing and Inspections to go after the owners of vacant properties.
There are basically three parts to the plan:
1. Actively seek out and issue appropriate violations to vacant properties (as opposed to only responding to public requests for action).
2. Use under-utilized city rules (like having working windows and doors on blocks with 80% residency or more) to issue violations.
3. Use new powers granted by Senate Bill 900 (aka Act 90) to go after the personal finances of owners of vacant properties.
L&I Commissioner Fran Burns emphasizes that L&I wants the owners to bring their properties into compliance, not to bring them to court.
But the big question is whether L&I's effort will, in fact, force property owners — especially those who own many vacant properties — to clean their acts up. As we point out in our piece, SB900 exempts "Asociations and Trusts," a phrase I was told essentially exempts LLCs and other corporate entities from the law.
Robert Coyle Sr., the infamous Kensington slumlord, used dozens of small companies to hold his properties — presumably, this exemption would have helped him escape having to risk his personal assets if the city came after him.
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