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Public speaker urges city to convert liened or foreclosed properties into affordable housing, citing St. Petersburg example
Summary
A public commenter urged council to revisit the city's list of non‑homesteaded properties with liens as a source of affordable housing, saying staff considered many of those assets impractical to pursue but that other cities have redeemed fines and created units through dispossession programs.
During public comment at the Jan. 9 Tampa City Council meeting, speaker Bobby Creighton urged the council to reconsider how the city handles non‑homesteaded properties that have liens and suggested the city could use problem properties to expand affordable housing.
Creighton said staff had produced a list of properties with liens after a council inquiry but that the list did not include lien amounts per property, making assessment difficult. He said staff told him pursuing foreclosures was often not viable because of legal costs and lengthy timelines.
Creighton pointed to St. Petersburg’s program starting in 2016 as an example: he told the council that city foreclosures cost about $1.13 million in attorney fees but yielded about $4.4 million in recovered fines and 235 affordable housing units from 2016–2022. Creighton also described a nearby burned, boarded and padlocked house he said was not on the staff list because someone claimed a homestead exemption; he said the city wanted to settle that lien for $260 while the tax lien was about $15,000.
Why it matters: Creighton said many of the properties with liens are clustered in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods and argued the city should adopt clearer criteria and better data to decide when to pursue property disposition for housing. He suggested the city examine other municipalities’ disposition programs and improve internal data systems.
Ending: Creighton urged the council to update processes, improve data sharing across departments and consider a targeted program to convert problem properties into affordable lots or units.
