(A) Notice to abate. It shall be the duty of the Mayor and/or by the Mayor, citation officers or others authorized to serve or cause to be served a notice upon the owner or occupant of any premises on which there is kept or maintained a nuisance in violation of the provisions of this chapter. The notice shall describe the nuisance so maintained and shall demand abatement of the nuisance within five days of notice, unless the nuisance constitutes and immediate danger to health and well-being of the community, in which case the notice shall demand abatement within 24 hours of the notice. The notice shall also include the following:
(1) A statement to the effect that if the situation is not remedied within the prescribed time, the city government will proceed to abate the nuisance;
(2) A statement to the effect that the cost of abatement constitutes a lien against the property in favor of the city government; and
(3) A statement to the effect that if the city government has abated the nuisance, the Mayor or City Clerk/Treasurer will send a bill for the cost of the abatement, to include an administrative cost, to the property owner and occupant, and if the bill is not paid within 14 days following the mailing of the bill, that a notice of lien claimed for the cost of the abatement will be placed against the property. The property owner and occupant shall further be informed that in the event the property is the subject of litigation, the lien may be filed immediately upon the mailing of the bill.
(B) Service of notice. Notice shall be personally served upon owners or occupants or shall be mailed to the last-known address of the owner of the property as it appears on the current tax assessment roll. If the owner of the property cannot be ascertained from the tax rolls in the exercise of reasonable diligence, the Mayor or his or her designee officer shall make an affidavit to that effect; and the serving of notice upon the owners may be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation for two consecutive publication days. A copy of the notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises affected by the notice.
(C) Abatement by city government. If the owner or occupant so served does not abate the nuisance within five days, the city government may proceed to abate the nuisance, keeping an account of the expense of the abatement; and the expense, including an administrative cost fee, shall be charged to and paid by the owner or occupant. The five-day period provided for in this division (C) shall be deemed to commence as follows:
(1) Where notice is personally served, on the day following service;
(2) Where notice is by mail, on the third day following mailing; and
(3) Where notice is by publication and posting, on the third day following the initial publication and/or posting.
(D) Lien. The city government shall have a lien against the property for its costs incurred in a nuisance abatement. This lien shall be evidenced by a notice of lien claimed, filed in the County Clerk’s office, which notice shall include the affidavit of the Mayor, City Clerk/Treasurer or the citation officer, setting forth the property in question, the amount of the city government’s costs of abatement, the date of abatement, and that the notice provisions of this section were complied with before abatement. The City Clerk/Treasurer shall bill the property owner and occupant of the premises at least once following abatement, and no notice of lien claimed shall be filed against the property until 14 days have elapsed since the bill is sent. If the property is the subject of litigation, the lien may be filed immediately upon the mailing of the bill. A copy of the notice of lien claimed shall be mailed to the owner of the premises, or published in a newspaper of general circulation, as required by statute, where the owner of the property cannot be ascertained. However, the failure of the Clerk/Treasurer to record the notice of lien claimed or the failure to mail the owner a copy of the notice or publish same, or the failure of the owner to receive the notice shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien for the charges as provided in division (E) below.
(E) Property to be sold. Property subject to a lien for unpaid nuisance abatement charges shall be sold for nonpayment of the same, and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied to pay the charges after deducting costs as is the case in the foreclosure of statutory liens. Foreclosure shall be an equity in the name of the city government.
(F) Court proceedings. The Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to institute proceedings, in the name of the city government, in any court having jurisdiction over the matter, against any property for which a bill for nuisance abatement remains unpaid for 14 days after it is mailed. If the property is the subject of litigation, the proceedings may be initiated immediately upon the mailing of the bill.
(G) Release of lien. The Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to execute a release of the lien provided for in division (D) above upon payment in full of the nuisance abatement cost evidenced by the lien or upon conclusion of court proceedings resulting in the sale of the property regardless of whether any portion of the costs were paid from the proceeds of the sale. The lien release shall be filed in the County Clerk’s office.
(H) Unenforceable liens.
(1) The Mayor of law is hereby authorized to make the determination that liens shall not be filed for the cost of nuisance abatement if the cost of nuisance abatement is $500 or less and the cost of collection of the lien would be greater than the lien itself, or when intervening in existing litigation is not cost effective, or when the lien would not be enforceable as a matter of law.
(2) All liens now of record meeting these criteria may be released upon signature of the Mayor and all prior releases of liens are hereby ratified and adopted as an act of this Council.
(Prior Code, § 92.55) (Ord. 94-4, passed 10-10-1994)