Plan targets blight from foreclosures

Plan targets blight from foreclosures
BY JAMES GELUSO (Bakersfield Californian, Feb. 19th)

Bakersfield code enforcers would work with local real estate agents to track foreclosed homes -- in an effort to limit blight -- under a plan approved Tuesday by a City Council committee.
Under the plan, the Bakersfield Association of Realtors would share its data on what homes are in foreclosure. That would help the city watch the properties and track down owners faster, said Phil Burns, city building director.

The plan will likely go to the full council for ratification in March.
Currently, the city uses Kern County's ownership listings, but when someone is foreclosed on, the listings can lag a few months, Burns said. Cleanup notices often go to owners who have been evicted instead of the lenders who have taken ownership.

And when the city tries to get a lender to clean up, it's difficult to penetrate the company's bureaucracy. The local association would help the city identify the local agent handling the property, who would be able to get the authorization to clean up the property faster than the city can through its legal process, Burns said.

The city discarded an earlier idea to create a registry of foreclosed properties. Burns said he and agents decided not to add more registration requirements to the foreclosure process.