HB331INTRODUCED
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HB331
7I3FV22-1
By Representatives Tillman, Hendrix, Sellers, Moore (M), Givan
(N & P)
RFD: County and Municipal Government
First Read: 25-Feb-25
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6 7I3FV22-1 02/19/2025 PMG (L)cr 2025-793
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First Read: 25-Feb-25
SYNOPSIS:
Relating to Class 1 municipalities; to authorize
a Class 1 municipality to enact by ordinance provisions
for vacant real property registration; to require a
registration fee for the registration of vacant
properties; and to enact and enforce maintenance
standards for vacant properties.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to vacant real property located in a Class 1
municipality; to authorize the governing body of a Class 1
municipality to enact and enforce vacant property registration
ordinances.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. This act shall apply only to a Class 1
municipality.
Section 2. The provisions of this act shall apply in
any Class 1 municipality that adopts this act to be applicable
to the registration of vacant property in the municipality.
Section 3. The Legislature finds and declares all of
the following:
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the following:
(1) Vacant properties create numerous problems in a
Class 1 municipality, including a propensity to foster
criminal activity, create blight and blighting conditions,
create public health problems, and otherwise diminish quality
of life for residents and business operators in the
surrounding area.
(2) Vacant properties negatively impact the property
rights of neighboring property owners by reducing the value of
surrounding properties, impacting the quality of life of
adjacent property owners, increasing the risk of property
damage through arson and vandalism, and discouraging
neighborhood stability and revitalization.
(3) Abandoned properties are presumptively considered
to be nuisances, in view of their negative effects on nearby
properties and the residents or users of those properties.
(4) Vacant properties require a Class 1 municipality to
expend significant monetary and personnel resources and to
incur a disproportionate cost to address problems of vacant
and abandoned structures, which include, but are not limited
to, property inspections, nuisance abatement, fire calls, and
police calls.
(5) Vacant properties represent unrealized economic
growth for a Class 1 municipality.
(6) A vacant property registration ordinance would
allow a Class 1 municipality to discourage property vacancy,
to maintain unoccupied buildings, to provide a database of
vacant properties and their owners in order to better ensure
compliance with applicable property codes, and to assess fees
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compliance with applicable property codes, and to assess fees
for the increased public costs associated with vacant
properties.
(7) Fees imposed under a vacant property registration
ordinance have the potential to benefit the owners of vacant
properties by helping to finance additional government
services by a Class 1 municipality to protect the value and
security of such properties.
(8) Enactment of a vacant property registration
ordinance is a proper exercise of governmental authority to
protect the public health, safety, and welfare of community
residents and a valid regulatory scheme.
Section 4. The purposes of this act are to promote the
health, safety, and welfare of residents in a Class l
municipality by providing authority for a Class 1 municipality
to enact a vacant property registration ordinance. The
ordinance will allow a Class 1 municipality to identify and
register vacant properties, collect fees to compensate for the
public costs of vacant properties, plan for the rehabilitation
of vacant properties, and encourage the occupancy of vacant
properties.
Section 5. For purposes of this act the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) EVIDENCE OF VACANCY. Any condition or circumstance
that on its own or in combination with other conditions or
circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that a
residential building or commercial building is vacant.
Conditions or circumstances may include, but are not limited
to:
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to:
a. Overgrown or dead vegetation, including grass,
shrubbery, and other plantings;
b. An accumulation of abandoned personal property,
trash, or other waste;
c. Visible deterioration or lack of maintenance of any
building or structure on the property;
d. Graffiti or other defacement of any building or
structure on the property;
e. An absence of legal occupancy or routine legal
activity occurring on the property; or
f. Any other condition or circumstance reasonably
indicating that the property is not occupied for residential
purposes or being used for the operation of a lawful business.
(2) OWNER. A person who individually or jointly with
others:
a. Has legal title to the property, with or without
actual possession, or who is shown to be the owner or owners
of record in the records of the probate office;
b. Has charge, care, or control of the property as
owner or agent of the owner;
c. Is an executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian
of the estate of the owner;
d. Is the agent of the owner for the purpose of
managing, controlling, or collecting rents; or
e. Is entitled to control or direct the management or
disposition of the property.
(3) RESIDENTIAL BUILDING. A house, condominium,
townhouse, apartment unit or building, or any other building
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townhouse, apartment unit or building, or any other building
where the whole building or parts thereof are designed or used
as residential dwellings or auxiliary uses to a residential
dwelling.
(4) VACANT. A residential building or commercial
building that is lacking habitual presence of human beings who
have a legal right to be on the property, or at which
substantially all lawful business operations or residential
occupancy has ceased for a period of 90 consecutive days. In
determining whether a property is vacant, a Class l
municipality may consider, among other factors, evidence of
vacancy.
Section 6. (a) The governing body of a Class 1
municipality may adopt a vacant property registration
ordinance that establishes a vacant property registration and
maintenance program that applies to any type of either
residential or commercial buildings, or both, located within
the corporate limits of the municipality, except that a vacant
property registration ordinance shall not apply to property
owned by the federal government, the State of Alabama, any
political subdivision thereof, or a public corporation.
(b) A vacant property registration ordinance shall
create a city-wide vacant property registration database and
clearly designate a program administrator.
Section 7. (a) Owners of vacant property subject to a
vacant property registration ordinance shall register the
property with the program administrator within 30 days after
the property becomes vacant or within 30 days after assuming
ownership of the vacant property, whichever is later, or
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ownership of the vacant property, whichever is later, or
within 10 days after receipt of notice by the municipality
that the property is vacant.
(b) A vacant property registration ordinance
registration form shall be in either paper or electronic form,
and the following information, at a minimum, shall be
required:
(1) The name, street address, mailing address,
telephone number, and, if applicable, the facsimile number and
email address of the property owner and his or her agent who
is an individual at least 21 years of age who is designated by
the owner as authorized agent for receiving notice of code
violations and for receiving process in any court proceeding
or administrative enforcement proceeding on behalf of the
owner in connection with the enforcement of any applicable
law, regulation, or code.
(2) The street address and parcel identification number
of the vacant property.
(3) The transfer date of the instrument conveying the
property to the owner.
(4) The date on which the property became vacant.
(c)(1) A vacant property registration ordinance may
require payment of a fee upon registration of the vacant
property pursuant to subsection (a) and may require the
payment of supplemental registration fees every 12 months
thereafter for as long as the property remains on the vacant
property registration database. The initial registration fee
shall be not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250)
annually for a residential property and not more than one
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annually for a residential property and not more than one
thousand dollars ($1,000) annually for a commercial property.
A supplemental registration fee shall be not more than double
the previous fee amount, with a maximum supplemental
registration fee of 10 times the initial registration fee
amount.
(2) Registration fees may be refundable on a prorated
basis for the year preceding the date on which the property is
no longer vacant.
(3) A vacant property registration ordinance shall
provide an exemption for time periods set forth in the
ordinance to the registration and fee requirements for vacant
property that is advertised in good faith for sale or lease.
(4) A vacant property registration ordinance may
provide exemptions to the registration and fee requirements,
including, but not limited to, for vacant property:
a. Only considered to be a seasonal residence;
b. Damaged by fire, weather, an act of God, or
vandalism, and the owner demonstrates his or her intent to
repair or renovate;
c. Under construction or renovation;
d. Where the owner is temporarily absent but who has
demonstrated his or her intent to return;
e. That is subject to divorce, probate, or estate
proceedings;
f. When the owner or occupant of the vacant property
files with the program administrator a detailed statement of
the owner or occupant's plans for restoration of the vacant
property to productive use and occupancy during the 12-month
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property to productive use and occupancy during the 12-month
period following the date when the initial registration of the
property would otherwise be due. If the restoration or
occupancy of the property has not commenced by the end of the
12-month period, the owner or occupant shall be liable for any
fee waived. The program administrator may extend the waiver of
the registration fee for not more than one additional year in
response to a written request by the property owner or
occupant where the program administrator finds that compelling
conditions outside the owner or occupant's control made it
impossible for the owner or occupant to restore the property
within the initial 12-month period; or
g. In other situations in which the governing body of
the municipality, on a case-by-case basis and upon request by
the property owner, determines that an exemption of a vacant
property from registration is appropriate upon a finding for
good cause shown that the owner or lawful occupant will be
unable to occupy the building for a determinant period of
time, provided that the property owner or occupant provides a
detailed statement of the owner or occupant's plans for
restoration of the vacant property to productive use and
occupancy during the 12-month period following the date when
the initial registration of the property would otherwise be
due.
(d) A vacant property registration ordinance may
require that when the owner of the vacant property resides
outside of the state, the owner shall provide the name and
address of an individual who resides within the state who is
authorized to accept service of process and notices of fees
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authorized to accept service of process and notices of fees
due under this act on behalf of the owner and who is
designated as a responsible, local party or agent for the
purposes of notification in the event of an emergency
affecting the public health, safety, or welfare.
Section 8. (a) A vacant property registration ordinance
shall:
(1) Provide that a subsequent owner or owners of
property subject to the ordinance shall assume the obligations
of the previous owner or owners;
(2) Provide for removal of the property from the vacant
property registration database when the property is no longer
vacant;
(3) Require submission of an owner plan for restoration
and occupancy of the property; and
(4) Provide that owners have the right to prior notice
and to appeal adverse decisions of the municipality or the
program administrator. Prior notice shall be sent by certified
mail to the registered owner at the address maintained in the
probate office or according to the records of the tax assessor
or revenue commissioner, if different, at least 10 days prior
to the adverse decision.
(b) A vacant property registration ordinance may allow
the program administrator or his or her designee to inspect
the interior and exterior of the vacant property upon
registration and at one--year intervals thereafter or more
frequently if necessary to protect public health and safety,
for so long as the property remains on the vacant property
registration database.
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registration database.
(c) A vacant property registration ordinance may
provide for municipal fines for failure to comply with its
requirements. A municipality may enforce the collection of
vacant property registration fees by civil action in any court
of competent jurisdiction. Unpaid vacant property registration
fees and unpaid fines for any violation of a vacant property
registration ordinance shall become a lien on the applicable
property upon the recording of a notice of the lien in the
probate office. The lien created under this subsection shall
be superior to all other liens, except those liens for taxes
described or referenced in Section 11-51-6, Code of Alabama
1975.
(d) The vacant property registration ordinance may
require that the owner enclose and secure the vacant property
within a designated period of time and thereafter to maintain
the vacant property to minimum standards required under
applicable state law and municipal ordinances and codes or to
standards adopted under the vacant property registration
ordinance. The ordinance may include authority for the
municipality, following notice to the owner, to act to bring
the vacant property into compliance with the applicable
standards, or otherwise eliminate the public nuisance caused
by any noncomplaint conditions; provided, however, that
nothing in this section is to be interpreted to impose a duty,
obligation, or requirement that a municipality must undertake
such repairs, demolition, or maintenance measures which remain
as obligations and responsibilities of the owner. Cost of the
repairs, demolition, and maintenance and related legal and
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repairs, demolition, and maintenance and related legal and
administrative costs incurred by the municipality shall be
paid by the owner. A vacant property registration ordinance
may provide that these costs shall become a lien on the
applicable property, upon the recording of a notice of the
lien in the probate office, or may be collected in civil
proceedings against the owner.
Section 9. The provisions of this act shall be
supplemental and in pari materia with other laws of the State
of Alabama relating to vacant or abandoned property.
Section 10. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2025.
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