Receivership: A New Tool for Addressing Vacant Problem Properties in North Carolina

<p></p> <p>Municipalities across North Carolina have long employed code enforcement tools to address problem properties and abandoned structures. A prior blog post describes the code enforcement options for repair and maintenance of commercial buildings. A book on housing codes describes the code enforcement options for residential structures. A bulletin describes local government authority to carry out inspections of structures. To see how all of North Carolina’s code enforcement tools can come together in a strategic approach, read the report produced by the Center for Community Progress for the City of High Point. Now municipalities have an additional code enforcement tool at their disposal to address problem properties. Effective October 1, 2018,[1] Session Law 2018-65 (originally codified at G.S. 160A-439.1 until being moved to G.S. 160D-1130) establishes receivership powers and authorizes North Carolina municipalities to request for a superior court to appoint a receiver to manage a vacant structure that has not complied with a code enforcement order. These vacant problem properties, whether residential or commercial, are deemed a “nuisance per se”—in other words, a nuisance in any context. This blog post provides an overview of the new receivership authority.</p> <p>Receivership of problem properties: An old idea that is new to North Carolina</p> <p>Receivership “places control of a seriously deteriorated building in the hands of a court-appointed receiver, who rehabilitates and manages the building until the cost of repair is recovered… to achieve quick repair of economically sound buildings that lack an owner, mortgagee, or purchaser willing to undertake the expense of compliance.” Richard Carlton et al., Enforcement [...]</p>