Can a nonprofit take over an abandoned house in Missouri and fix it up?
Yes. A qualifying nonprofit housing group can ask a court to declare a property abandoned and give the group temporary possession of it. The house must have been empty for at least six months, with delinquent taxes, it must be a nuisance, and the group must intend to rehabilitate it.
The group has to be a Missouri nonprofit, incorporated for at least six months, whose purpose includes providing or improving housing in its community. A nuisance here means a property that is a public nuisance, blights the area around it, or has housing code violations serious enough to threaten public life, health or safety.
At a hearing, the group gives the court a rehabilitation plan and shows it has the resources to fix the property and then manage it. The owner and the other defendants get a chance to show why the group should not be allowed to do the work. If the court grants the petition, it approves the plan and hands the group temporary possession.
The group then files a report every quarter on the work, what it has spent and any income from the property.
The owner can ask the court for the property back. But the court will not return it to an owner who lacks the capacity or the resources to finish the rehabilitation. An owner who does get it back must first pay the group the compensation the court sets, and takes the property subject to any leases the group signed.
If the owner has not regained possession within one year of the order, the group can ask the court for a judicial deed. That deed wipes out all existing ownership interests and liens on the property, except tax liens.
In a home rule city, the petition also asks for a sheriff's deed to the group once the rehab is done and no owner has taken the property back.
Can a Missouri neighborhood association get a receiver appointed for a run-down building?
Yes. When code violations at a building threaten public health, safety or welfare, the county, the city, a local housing corporation or a neighborhood association can ask a court to appoint a receiver to abate them.
Abatement can mean repairs, rehabilitation, closing or securing the building, or demolition. A neighborhood association counts only if the city recognizes it as the sole association working to improve that defined area.
At least sixty days before filing, it must mail every interested party written notice that it intends to seek a receiver. It cannot ask for a receiver while a lender is pursuing a foreclosure on the property in a timely way.
An owner or lienholder who chooses to make the repairs must post security with the court so the work gets done on time. If nobody steps up, or the work stalls, the court finds the property unsafe or unsanitary and appoints a receiver to finish the job. Courts must expedite these cases and may put them ahead of other lawsuits.
For a vacant building, the court can name as receiver the code enforcement agency, a lender or other lienholder, a local housing corporation (or, where none exists, the neighborhood association), a licensed attorney or real estate broker, or another qualified person, to clear the nuisance violations. Lienholders of record get the first chance to serve as receiver, in the order of their liens.
The receiver must clear the nuisance violations with all reasonable speed and may make other improvements to rehabilitate the property. With the court's approval, the receiver can borrow against the property to pay for the work. Receiver's certificates issued for that borrowing are a first lien on the property, ahead of other liens except taxes and assessments.
How does a Missouri city make an owner repair or tear down a dangerous building?
Cities, towns, villages and certain larger counties can adopt ordinances requiring a building declared a public nuisance to be vacated, repaired and maintained, or demolished. The owner must get notice of the nuisance declaration saying whether the building is to be vacated, repaired or removed, with a reasonable time to start.
If the work doesn't start on time or stalls, the building commissioner or another designated officer holds a hearing, giving at least ten days' written notice.
When the local government demolishes, secures or repairs the building, or cleans up the property, the cost is billed as a special tax bill against the property. That tax bill is a personal debt of the owner and a lien on the property until it is paid.
A city, town, village or charter county that wrongfully demolishes a building, or skips these procedures, is liable for damages set by a court.
How long does a Missouri owner have to redeem a house sold for back taxes?
After a tax sale, the owner, a lienholder, an occupant or anyone else with an interest has an absolute right to redeem for one year, and a weaker right to redeem until the buyer gets the deed.
Land with delinquent property taxes is subject to sale at the county tax sale on the fourth Monday in August each year. The owner can pay the back taxes, penalties, interest and costs to the county collector any time before the sale.
Redeeming means repaying the buyer's purchase money and the costs of the sale, plus interest at the certificate's rate, capped at ten percent a year.
At least ninety days before taking the deed, the buyer must notify the owner of record and anyone with a recorded mortgage, lien or other claim of the right to redeem. A buyer who doesn't follow these steps loses all interest in the property, with limited exceptions.
Land that draws no full bid at two yearly sales in a row goes to a third offering, where it sells to the highest bidder for at least the back taxes, interest, penalties and costs, with a ninety-day redemption period. Land still unsold after the third offering is offered every thirty days, and a buyer at one of those later sales gets a collector's deed right away, with no redemption period.
Juggling back taxes and a late mortgage on an empty Missouri house? Read how foreclosure plays out in Missouri.
How do you report a vacant building in St. Louis, Missouri?
In St. Louis, the Citizens' Service Bureau takes requests for city services and routes them to the right department. You can submit a request online or call the bureau at 314-622-4800.
The city's Building Division takes requests to inspect the outside of a home for possible building code, health, safety or historic district violations. Staff may already know about the problem, but sometimes a resident's report is what brings it to light. After you file, you get an email with a request ID you can use to check the status.
The Building Division enforces the city building code, inspects buildings and demolishes vacant buildings. The city also publishes an open-data list of the vacant buildings its inspectors track, with their violations and invoices.
You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.