I found this. Interesting.
Neighborhood Nuisance Program
The City of San Diego sponsors a program to help residents abate nuisances in their neighborhood. Nuisances can include an unsightly property, excessive noise, gang activity, prostitution, drug activity, trespassing, CC&R violations, etc. The basis for the program is California law that makes property owners responsible for using their property in an ordinary and reasonable manner that is conducive to the peace and harmony of the neighborhood and does not interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property by others. Property owners violate the law by allowing a nuisance to exist on their property whether they themselves live there or not. Once they become aware of the nuisance they become responsible for abating it.
Under the Neighborhood Nuisance Program, the affected residents work with a City representative who guides them through a process to abate the nuisance. The process involves the following steps: collection of evidence, documentation of the nuisance effects, notification and negotiation with the property owner, demand that the nuisance be stopped, etc. If the owner fails to abate the nuisance the residents can file a suit in small claims court where they can describe the nuisance and their efforts to resolve it. In addition to a court cost of $22, service fees range from $15 to $150 depending on the method of service and number of defendants. The judge has the power to order the property owner to abate the nuisance and/or pay monetary damages to the residents.
For information about this program contact the City of San Diego Neighborhood Code Compliance Department at (619) 533-6123.
I still think we need a landlord licencing and education program. People need to understand that as property owners, even if they dont live there, they are responsible for making sure it is taken care of and not abused.
ReplyDeletethere are many good landlords that are aware of those issues and do their best to address them as they come up - we are at the tail end of being an area that was ripe for being a low cost area for the purchase of slumlord properties. As there is continued pressure for them to be responsible to their tenant and the neighborhood the home lies in then the houses will come in line or be sold.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of one "slumlord" starting to sell as code has been harrassing them - I say way to go!!
I lived in San Diego for many years, and one thing that they do very well there is spread low income housing throughout the city, so that the "poverty" is not concentrated in one area. There is a theory that the extreme concentration of low income housing in one area of New Orleans led to the incredibly high crime rate in the area, and one of the plans for redeveloping New Orleans is to try and spread things out through the whole area a little more evenly. I think Tampa could learn a lot from these cities in that regard.
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