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Committee hears concerns about online property sales and demolition orders; city to coordinate with county
Summary
Committee members discussed cases where properties sold via online county auctions were subject to demolition orders, raising concerns about information-sharing and process checks between the city and county. Staff said they are working with county counterparts to improve pre-sale checks and communication.
Budget Committee members raised concerns about situations where properties appear in county online sales after the county's automated process forwards properties to auction, sometimes creating conflicts with city demolition orders or other court actions.
A committee member described a recent case in which someone purchased a property via an online auction shortly before city staff began demolition activity on an order that predated the sale. Staff said county processes now flow automated listings into online auctions and the county lacks sufficient capacity to manually check every property before posting it for sale. "They're not going and checking any of it right now because they don't have the capacity to do it," a staff member said.
Staff said they and county counterparts (Stan and Lewis were named as working on the issue) are discussing how to build better checks and balances so the city sees potential sales before they go live and so demolition or court-ordered actions are coordinated. The presenter also noted that a judge's order can override a property transfer in some situations, and staff said they will follow up to clarify case-specific outcomes.
No formal policy or procedural change was adopted at the meeting; staff said filling certain revenue-collection and enforcement positions in the city's workforce is a priority and that better intergovernmental coordination is being pursued.
