City council backs steeper administrative penalties for absentee owners after push from councilmembers

San Jose’s City Council voted Aug. 26 to adopt a group memorandum raising the city’s maximum administrative penalties for property owners who repeatedly allow properties to degrade. The measure—moved as part of consent calendar changes—aims to make fines a stronger incentive for compliance and to hold absentee owners accountable when properties become public hazards.

Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who co‑authored the group memo with Councilmembers Campos and Tordillos, said the changes target “absentee owners who repeatedly fail to act while our neighborhoods pay the price” and asked the council to add “up to” language to preserve staff discretion. Ortiz proposed increasing the per‑day maximum administrative penalty for severe, worst‑actor cases to “up to $20,000” per day; staff guidance will also provide operational detail on how fines are applied.

Chris Burton, Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, told council the department supports the approach and that staff will return with an operational assessment this winter to describe how fines would be applied in practice. The city attorney and PBCE recommended a $10,000 daily penalty as a baseline; after dais negotiation the council supported lifting the upper bound for discretionary use by code enforcement professionals in serious cases.

The motion was passed as part of the consent calendar and recorded as approved. Staff said they would return by winter to provide additional implementation detail, including how appeals would be processed and how fines intersect with existing administrative and court review processes.

Actions - kind: policy (administrative enforcement) motion: "Approve group memorandum to amend the San Jose Municipal Code administrative penalty framework; add language 'up to' $20,000 per day for worst-actor cases and remove proposed annual cap language to align with staff procedures." mover: "Councilmember Ortiz" second: "Councilmember Campos" vote_record: [{member:"Councilmember Ortiz",vote:"yes"},{member:"Councilmember Campos",vote:"yes"},{member:"Vice Mayor Foley",vote:"yes"}] tally: {yes:10,no:0,abstain:0} outcome: "approved" notes: "Staff to return with operational assessment on fine application and appeals by Q1/Q2 FY2026."

Speakers - {"name":"Peter Ortiz","role_title":"Councilmember","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"City of San Jose","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:07:42","transcript_line_range":[3843,3867]}} - {"name":"Chris Burton","role_title":"Director, Planning Building & Code Enforcement","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"PBCE","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:07:54","transcript_line_range":[4165,4179]}}

Authorities - {"type":"code","name":"San Jose Municipal Code (administrative penalty provisions)","citation":"not specified","referenced_by":["blight-penalty-increase"]}

Clarifying_details - {"category":"per_day_penalty","detail":"Proposed high end is 'up to $20,000' per day for worst-actor properties; staff retains discretion","value":20000,"units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Peter Ortiz"} - {"category":"implementation_timing","detail":"Staff to return with an operational assessment of fine application and appeals by winter (Q3/Q4 FY2026) per staff comments","source_speaker":"Chris Burton"}

proper_names:[{"name":"Planning, Building and Code Enforcement","type":"agency"}], searchable_tags:["code enforcement","penalties","blight","absentee owners"], meeting_context:{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":6,"duration_minutes":20,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2024-06-xx","note":"Group memo direction previously discussed"}]}