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(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this Section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
POLICE RESPONSE. Any and all Police action deemed appropriate by the Police Commissioner to protect the health, safety and welfare of inhabitants of a property or location where valid complaints have been documented. Coordination of Police action shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the Boston Police Department.
PROBLEM PROPERTY. Shall have the same meaning as set forth in Subsection 16-57.2.
VALID COMPLAINT. An investigated finding, documented by on-duty Boston Police Department personnel dispatched or caused to respond to an incident, that a criminal offense has taken place in a dwelling unit within a property, on a particular property or at a specific location which disturbs the health, safety and welfare of other inhabitants of said property or location. The term shall not include incidents involving an occupant of the premises as the victim of the crime.
(B) Police response. The Police Commissioner, as deemed appropriate to protect the health, safety and welfare of other inhabitants of a property or location where a valid complaint has been made, is hereby authorized and empowered to assign a member or members of the Boston Police Department to staff as Police response on said property or location:
(1) Upon being dispatched or caused to respond to an incident, in a dwelling unit within a property, on a particular property or at a specific location, involving a criminal offense, Boston Police Department personnel shall investigate the complaint to determine whether it is a valid complaint;
(2) Upon finding a valid complaint, Boston Police Department personnel shall make a record of the incident and shall keep, within the Department’s control, a record of the number of incidents which occur in said dwelling unit within a property, particular property or location; and
(3) After four valid complaint incidents have occurred in a 12-month period relating to the occupancy of a dwelling unit within a property, on a particular property or at a specific location, the Police Commissioner, or his or her designee, may notify the Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Problem Properties and shall submit to the Chair the all-calls report relating to Police response at said dwelling, particular property or location.
(C) Duties of the Task Force.
(1) The Chair shall create a master file of all information received from the Commissioner pertaining to that dwelling unit, particular property or location and shall discuss said information with the members of the Task Force at a monthly meeting held at City Hall.
(2) If a specific address falls within the definition of a problem property, the Chair of the Task Force shall notify, in writing, the property owner by regular and certified mail, return receipt requested, sent to the property owner’s residence or usual place of business that is on record at the Assessor’s Office. The Task Force notification shall identify:
(a) The property owner and list the specific address that has been designated a problem property;
(b) The number of valid complaint incidents which have occurred on said property within a 12-month period;
(c) The Boston Police District Captain the property owner may contact to coordinate a plan to resolve the incidents at the particular property or location, and/or inform the Boston Police of problem occupant(s); and
(d) Where and to whom the property owner must address a letter of appeal of the Task Force’s decision.
(3) In making a final designation of a property as a problem property, the Chair of the Task Force shall take into consideration the nature of the complaints, the number of dwelling units at the property and the nature of the use of said property.
(4) Upon receipt of confirmation from the Police Commissioner, or his or her designee, that the owner of a particular property deemed problematic has cooperated with the Boston Police Department in addressing each specified valid complaint, the Task Force shall remove said property from designation as a problem property.
(D) Cost of Police response assigned to problem properties.
(1) The Police Commissioner, or his or her designee, shall keep an accurate record of the cost of Police response to a dwelling unit within a property, a particular property or a specific location and such record shall include the number of Officers who are part of the determined response.
(2) The Police Commissioner shall forward such record to the Collector-Treasurer.
(3) After eight valid complaint incidents in a 12-month period relating to occupants of a dwelling unit within a property, a particular property or a specific location, the Police Commissioner, at his or her discretion, shall determine whether the cost of a Police response should be assessed to the property owner and shall notify and submit said determination to the Chair of the Task Force.
(4) The Chair of the Task Force shall notify, in writing, the property owner of the Commissioner’s decision to assess the cost of the Police response. The Task Force notification shall:
(a) Be delivered by regular and certified mail, return receipt requested, sent to the property owner’s residence or usual place of business that is on record at the Assessor’s Office;
(b) Identify the number of valid complaint incidents that have occurred since the first notification;
(c) Where appropriate, inform the property owner of his or her failure to contact the Boston Police District Captain to coordinate a plan to resolve the incidents at a dwelling unit within a property, particular property or location and/or inform the Boston Police of problem occupant(s);
(d) Inform the property owner that he or she shall be subject to the penalties addressed in division (E) below;
(e) Indicate where and to whom the property owner must address a letter of appeal of Police response costs assigned to him or her; and
(f) Inform the property owner he or she has seven days to file an appeal.
(5) The Police Commissioner should consider the following factors in making his or her decision to assess costs:
(a) The nature, scope and seriousness of the incident(s);
(b) Whether the incident(s) resulted in an arrest;
(c) A history of criminal activity taking place at the property or location;
(d) The property owner’s, and occupant’s, willingness to cooperate with Police; and
(e) The total number of properties owned by the property owner relative to the number of said properties deemed problematic.
(6) Nothing in this Section shall limit the statutory authority of the Police Commissioner to investigate crimes, allocate Police resources and enforce the laws of the commonwealth and the city.
(E) Penalties.
(1) The Collector-Treasurer is hereby authorized and empowered to bill the property owner for the costs the city incurred for its Police response in addition to any incidental costs during the period of Police response to the particular property or location. The property owner is responsible for payment of the bill in full within 30 days of receiving the bill. All amounts collected by the Collector-Treasurer shall be deposited into the General Fund of the city.
(2) Any unpaid bill for Police response, including interest and/or collection costs, shall be added to the real estate tax on the property and collected as part of that tax. Failure to pay real estate taxes will render the property owner delinquent and the Collector-Treasurer shall commence foreclosure proceedings.
(F) Property owner’s rights.
(1) The property owner may, within seven days of receipt of the Task Force’s notification, appeal the Commissioner’s decision to assess costs by requesting, in writing, a hearing before a three person panel appointed by the Mayor.
(2) A three person panel appointed by the Mayor shall be assembled as follows:
(a) At least one member shall be a nominee of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board;
(b) One seat on the panel shall be appointed to a member of a neighborhood crimewatch, a member of a neighborhood association and a member of a community development corporation, who shall rotate in their service on the panel; and
(c) The third member shall be a resident of the city.
(3) Once the panel makes a decision, it must be in writing. If the panel finds in favor of the property owner, the cost of the penalty shall be abated.
(G) Eviction. In the event the property owner has, in good faith, commenced eviction proceedings against the tenant(s) responsible for the incidents at the property, then the application of this Section shall be stayed until the eviction process is concluded. The Police Commissioner of the Department may continue Police response at the particular property or location, at his or her discretion, at all times after the eviction proceeding has been completed; provided, however, that such costs shall not be assessed to the property owner if the eviction proceedings conclude in favor of the property owner.
(H) Charges to constitute municipal lien pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 58. All charges to recover costs imposed in this Section shall constitute a municipal lien on the property so charged in accordance with M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 58.
(I) Report. The Chair of the Task Force shall submit a report to the Mayor and Boston City Council no later than three months after the one-year anniversary of the enactment date of this Section. This report shall include the total cost of administration of this Section, as well as an accounting of all revenues collected in association with it. Said report shall also contain data regarding all dwellings within a property, particular properties or locations which remain problem properties and those that are no longer designated as problem properties. The report shall also include the general impact, if any, that the implementation of this order has had on the health, safety and welfare of residents of the city.
(CBC 1985 16-56; Ord. 2011 c. 9)
The purpose of this Section is to empower the city to Police properties that have become a public nuisance by exhibiting a notorious atmosphere of criminal and other disturbing activity so elevated as to endanger the common good and general welfare of a specific neighborhood or the city in general.
(CBC 1985 16-57.1; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
For the purpose of this Section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
PROBLEM PROPERTY. Meets the following criteria:
(1) The Boston Police Department has been called to the property not fewer than four times within the preceding 12-month period for any incident involving any criminal offense including, but not limited to, disturbing the peace, trespassing, underage drinking or assault;
(2) The Air Pollution Control Commission has received not fewer than four sustained complaints for noise within the preceding 12-month period; or
(3) The Inspectional Services Department or the Public Health Commission have received not fewer than four sustained and upheld complaints within the preceding 12-month period for noxious, noisome or unsanitary conditions. Provided, however, that in making a final designation of a property as a
PROBLEM PROPERTY, the Chair of the Task Force shall take into consideration the nature of the complaints, the number of dwelling units at the property and the nature of the use of said property.
PUBLIC NUISANCE. An unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public, such as a condition dangerous to health, offensive to community moral standards or that otherwise threatens the general welfare of a neighborhood or the city in general through documented pervasive criminal activity, code violations or other causes precipitating the deployment of any city resource.
(CBC 1985 16-57.2; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
Any property in the city that is found by the Mayor’s Problem Properties Task Force to be a problem property as defined in Subsection 16-57.2 shall constitute a public nuisance. The Chair of the Task Force shall formally communicate to the Mayor, and the Council President, that a property falling within the definition of problem property is a public nuisance. The Chair of the Task Force shall designate the appropriate member of the Task Force to notify the owner of the property by regular and certified mail and the tenants by affixing a notice of the violation to the front door.
(CBC 1985 16-57.3; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
After declaring the problem property a public nuisance, the members of the Task Force heading the originating Department or the designee of the Chair of the Task Force shall issue a citation to any or all of the tenants and the owner of the property immediately for perpetuating the public nuisance at the time of any incident requiring the deployment of any City resources or personnel following the property being placed on the problem properties list.
(CBC 1985 16-57.4; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
Any tenant residing within or owner of a problem property declared to be a public nuisance cited under this chapter with violations prescribed by the commonwealth’s Sanitary Code or the commonwealth’s Building Code shall be fined up to $300 for each criminal or non-criminal citation authorized by said codes caused by their acts or omissions subsequent to the property being added to the problem property list. If the violation is ongoing, each day that the violation persists will constitute a separate violation for which an additional $300 fine will be imposed.
(CBC 1985 16-57.6; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
Any owner of a property determined to be a problem property shall file a management plan with the Inspectional Services Department, within 30 days of having been deemed a problem property that outlines and verifies the owner’s strategy and steps devised to bring the property up to code.
(CBC 1985 16-57.7; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
(A) (1) In order for a property to be removed from the problem properties list by the Problem Properties Task Force, an owner must file with the Inspectional Services Department a sworn statement following an inspection certifying that the property is in compliance with the minimum standards of human habitability for a residential dwelling as set forth in the commonwealth’s Sanitary Code, being 105 CMR 400 and 410, as it may be adopted or amended from time to time. The inspection shall be performed and the sworn statement shall be signed by an Authorized Inspector which shall be defined as a person who:
(a) Is a commonwealth-registered Sanitarian or a commonwealth-certified Health Officer or a commonwealth-certified Home Inspector;
(b) Has demonstrated a proficiency in the application of the commonwealth’s Sanitary Code by satisfactorily completing the ISD certificate program for qualifying authorized professionals to perform inspections under Subsection 9-1.3; and
(c) Has been issued a certificate of completion upon payment to ISD of $125.
(2) An authorized inspector shall be prohibited from charging more than 133% of the fee charged by the city for an inspection performed under this Section.
(B) This Section shall not apply to problem properties which have been designated due to valid Police complaints.
(CBC 1985 16-57.8; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
Should the owner of a property placed on the problem properties list not respond to the Problem Properties Task Force notification within 60 days, the Inspectional Services Department is authorized to petition the Housing Court for the appointment of a receiver to rehabilitate that property.
(CBC 1985 16-57.9; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
The Inspectional Services Department shall, no later than three months after the one-year anniversary of the enactment date of this Section, dispatch to the Mayor and Boston City Council’s Committee on Government Operations, a report on all problem properties that were on the problem properties list during the preceding year.
(CBC 1985 16-57.10; Ord. 2011 c. 10)
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