Maintaining A Foreclosure Property

February 4, 2013
It is an interesting state of affairs that property acquired through a foreclosure (trustee's sale in California) must be maintained. I do not see that this particular statute puts the same requirement on the homeowner who walks away or who lets the property deteriorate while the foreclosure is in process. However, as the state lawmakers wrestles with the number of properties that are in foreclosure and the blight that occurs when properties are no longer maintained, they passed a statute that imposes a$1,000 per day fine on all properties that are acquired though foreclosure. This includes both bank owned and any other person who purchased a foreclosed property.
Interpretations as to what "proper maintenance" is could differ. Does it mean repairing fences, replanting lawns, replacing shrubbery? Or is just removing trash and trimming up the landscaping that existed when the new owner came into title?
If you live adjacent to a neglected property, you might want to report it to a local code enforcement officer. We all know how a neglected property can impacta neightborhood.