Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Recovery Land Bank topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee takes by for the day bill to let localities transfer long‑vacant, blighted properties owned by foreign entities
Summary
House Bill 2745 would permit localities, after a court process, to convey long‑vacant, blighted properties (including into a land bank or to a purchaser) when certain statutory conditions are met; the committee took the bill by for the day to allow further clarification of language limiting application to non‑U.S. owners.
House Bill 2745, presented by Delegate O’Quinn, would create a court‑supervised pathway for a locality to obtain or transfer title to long‑vacant, blighted property when the record owner is unresponsive or fails to maintain the site.
Under the bill’s framework described to the committee, a locality would need to satisfy three conditions before seeking relief: (1) the property must have been vacant for at least two years; (2) the locality must have declared the property blighted or derelict under state code; and (3) the locality must have levied taxes on the property. After these conditions are met, the court could hold a hearing and — if the requisite findings are made — appoint a special commissioner to execute deeds conveying the property either to the locality (for example to a land bank) or to another party that commits to rehabilitate the site.
The bill’s sponsor and Randy Eads, city manager and city attorney for Bristol, described a case involving a former college campus that remained vacant and was acquired by a foreign‑owned entity that did not respond to local government attempts to address dereliction and safety hazards. Eads told the committee that existing abatement tools and tax‑lien procedures do not provide a workable path in that instance because the property’s assessed value and ownership structure prevent localities from meeting thresholds that would trigger a special‑commissioner conveyance under current code.
A provision in the draft restricts the statute’s application to property owned or controlled by persons who are not U.S. citizens (a definition included in §1‑230 as cited in the draft). Delegate Shannon and other members asked for clarification about that foreign‑ownership limitation and the timing and definition of “blighted or derelict.” Committee members agreed to take the bill by for the day to allow more time to answer technical questions and consider the drafting of the foreign‑ownership language.
Next steps: The committee adopted a motion to take HB 2745 by for the day; sponsors and staff will likely refine statutory language and return with clarifications on definitions and the scope of application.
