Can an Oklahoma city put an abandoned building on a list and bill the owner for it?
After a hearing finds a building abandoned, the city's governing body can order abatement and have the city clerk put it on an abandoned building list. While a building is on the list, the city can bill the property and its owner each quarter for the actual cost of regulating it.
An abandoned building here means an unoccupied building that a city has declared unsecured or dilapidated and that stays that way. Oklahoma law declares an abandoned building a public nuisance, in part because it is detrimental to public health, safety or welfare and drags down the value of nearby property.
The owner must get at least ten days' notice before that hearing, and notice also goes by mail to any mortgage holder.
It can also charge for the actual cost of police or fire responses at the building. If those quarterly costs aren't paid within six months of the bill, a lien for them is filed against the building. That lien ranks equal with property taxes and ahead of other titles and liens.
The owner or mortgage holder can petition at any time to have the building taken off the list, and the governing body must hold a hearing within 30 days.
These abandoned-building rules don't apply to property zoned and used for farming.
How can an Oklahoma town board up or tear down a dilapidated house?
An Oklahoma city or town can have a dilapidated building torn down and removed after giving the owner at least ten days' notice of a hearing. A city or town can also order an unsecured building boarded and secured, after at least ten days' mailed notice to owners and mortgage holders.
The hearing decides whether the property is dilapidated and harmful to public health, safety or welfare, or is a fire hazard to other property.
- A building counts as dilapidated if neglect or damage has left it decayed or in partial ruin to the point of being a public hazard, or unfit to live in.
- A building found unsecured more than three times in a year, or boarded up for more than six months in a row, also counts as dilapidated.
An owner who wants to challenge the order must file within 30 business days. If the cost of demolition isn't paid within six months, it is certified to the county treasurer and collected like property taxes.
An unsecured building is one no owner or tenant occupies that has openings such as windows or doors that are broken or not locked, or holes in the walls or roof, that make break-ins easier.
The governing body can order boarding when it would make the building less available to transients, cut a fire hazard, or make it less of an attraction to children. If the same building needs boarding again within six months, the city can do it without further advance notice.
Can an Oklahoma court appoint a receiver for a mortgaged property in danger?
Yes. A district court judge can appoint a receiver in a foreclosure, whether it runs through the courts or under the power-of-sale law, when the mortgaged property is in danger of being lost, removed or seriously damaged.
A receiver is also possible when a mortgage term has been broken and the property probably won't cover the debt, or when the mortgage itself provides for a receiver.
Holding a vacant Oklahoma house with a mortgage you can't keep up with? Read how Oklahoma foreclosures run, in court and by power of sale.
What happens to an Oklahoma house when property taxes go unpaid?
Once property taxes on Oklahoma real estate have gone unpaid for three years or more, the county treasurer must advertise it and sell it for the back taxes. That sale is the county's tax resale, held on the second Monday of June each year.
The owner, or anyone with an interest in the property, can redeem it any time before the resale auction starts by paying the county treasurer the amount originally delinquent plus interest.
The resale deed wipes out the delinquent taxes and gives the buyer full title.
If the property sells for more than what was owed, the leftover money is held for the record owner, who has one year to withdraw it, after any state tax debts are paid. Money not claimed within that year goes to the county's resale property fund.
In counties of more than 550,000 people, the county commissioners can tear down dilapidated buildings the county picks up at the tax resale.
How do you report an unsecured vacant house in Norman, Oklahoma?
Complaints can go to Code Compliance in several ways, including by phone at 405-366-5332. Unsecured structures and property maintenance are among the main complaints Norman's Code Compliance office receives.
Norman inspectors can also act on violations they find themselves, without waiting for a complaint. The city says complaints are still investigated as they always have been.
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.