By Tracey Howarth, Pennsauken Township

We wanted to bring you up to date on our abandoned property program. People often get the term “vacant” confused with the term “abandoned.” They are in fact two different things. Identifying a property as vacant is only the first step to declaring that same property abandoned. A way to think about it is to say, “A vacant property is not an abandoned property, but an abandoned property must first be vacant.”

A vacant property is defined as a property that has not been legally occupied for six months or more. We can also identify them by the condition of exterior of the property. Maybe there is mail building up; or no one has been seen bringing out the trash. A more obvious way for us to identify a vacant property is when we send out certified mail and it gets returned as undeliverable or even marked as “vacant” by the Post Office. The best way for us to know is for a concerned citizen to call us and tell us that the house is empty. At that point, we can send our inspector out to check out the property and write the appropriate violations.

Declaring a property abandoned is a process that moves at glacier speed. It can take up to four months to get a property through the abandonment process; and that is only if we have no one appealing the declaration. It is however, the first and most essential step in putting the Township in the position to be able to get the property occupied. Without declaring a vacant property abandoned, we have no legal stand in taking the property to the next step.

This is one of those things that we have mentioned before. Although it takes time and patience, as long as we stay the course, like anything else worth waiting for, we have everything to win in the end.

We’re talking about this because we are embarking on creating our fourth list of abandoned properties. By doing this, we are opening the doors to getting these properties occupied faster than if we waited for the banks to sell them off.

When the Township creates an abandoned property list, those properties become easier to foreclose on. Meaning, if a lien holder purchases a tax certificate for a property that we have placed on the abandoned property list, they can then expedite the foreclosure process and take possession of the property in just six months versus the standard two-year time frame.

That said, we are moving forward to have all vacant properties declared abandoned. In our ordinance, it states that any registerable property that meets the vacant property definition is by default a nuisance to the community. That ties right into having a vacant property declared abandoned, because the criteria for declaring abandonment is first, the property must not be legally occupied for six months. We then have to prove two more factors, one of which is that the property is a nuisance to the surrounding community. From there, we would have to prove one more factor and that can be any of the following: taxes are in default for one or more quarters; the property is in need of rehabilitation; or construction was initiated and discontinued prior to completion, leaving the property unsuitable for occupancy.

If our history holds true, when we’ve worked through the process and everything is complete, we will have everything in the hands of the right people. That is when we can see things come together. It will be well worth the time and effort.

If you think you have a vacant property in your neighborhood, but aren’t sure if we are aware, please give us a call at (856) 665-1000 ext. 145. We can easily look up the information and take the appropriate action.

As always, thank you for all that you do to help us fight this issue. We’ve made a lot of progress, thanks to the help of all of the Township’s resources and our concerned citizens.