Letters: Targeting foreclosure blight
Re “Crime fills empty homes,” Column, May 29
Regarding the foreclosed properties that have become blighted, I have a simple suggestion.
The ordinance passed by the Los Angeles City Council says that to collect the $1,000-per-day fines from the banks that own these houses, the homes must be checked at least once a day. But David Lara, a spokesman for the Department of Building and Safety, says the city doesn’t have the resources to do that.
Perhaps volunteers who live near these blighted homes would be more than happy to stroll past the offending houses and fill out a form for the Department of Building and Safety. The $7,000 a week in fines would mean that neighborhood residents could be put on the legitimate payroll for $100 a day and the city would still make a killing.
Plus, odds are the house would be quickly cleaned up by the bank.
Charlene Richards
Los Angeles
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