Ashe legislation addresses code enforcement

April 12, 2010

On March 31, the House State Planning and Community Affairs Committee's Special Committee on Code Enforcement heard testimony in support of HB 1173, which I introduced to address the issue of code enforcement, which is critical to Georgia's recovery from its greatest housing crisis since the Great Depression.

"Georgia ranked seventh in the nation for foreclosure filings in 2009, and we are on pace to break that record," said John O'Callaghan, president and CEO of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership. "In 2009, there were 136,230 filings in Metro Atlanta. Today, Atlanta ranks third behind Las Vegas and Detroit in the number of vacatnt and abandoned housing units. Foreclosure vacancies lead to neighborhood blight, depressed housing prices, a weakened tax digest, significant social costs and overall neighborhood deterioration. As the number of deteriorating properties continues to grow, housing code enforcement resources will be severely stressed. Addressing code enforcement is a critically important part of the spectrum of solutions to ensure full recovery from the crisis."

My legislation provides for the registration by the owners of vacant and abandoned property with local government code enforcement agencies. Click here for a sample Vacant/Abandoned Property Registration Database.

There is not enough time in the current session for HB 1173 to pass both the House and Senate. Between now and the 2011 session, I will be working with Rep. Barbara Sims (R-Augusta) on this issue to further define the state's role in property registration for code enforcement. As Mr. O'Callaghan testified, we must pursue effective tools to mitigate the damage to our communities by the foreclosure cirsis and recover the costs incurred.

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