Solutions must keep vulnerable property owners at the forefront of considerations when determining an approach to VAD property.

Improvement must begin from within the community with an appreciation for how these spaces can be beautified to uplift conditions.

There must be options for property owners who have limited resources or ability to maintain their property.

The City must address the root of property maintenance decline, including more funding for affordable housing and housing rehabilitation

The City may consider “good landlord program” incentives for responsible property owners.

Slumlords and owners of problematic VAD properties harm residents and neighborhoods because they are not held accountable.

Absentee owners hide behind LLCs and trusts.

Code enforcement and legal processes lack sufficient measures to produce a change in behavior for these property owners.

The City should triage which properties are the most problematic and handle different property statuses with a strategic response. 

Code enforcement has procedural limitations that undermine long-term compliance.

Residents and Neighborhood Enhancement division staff feel like they are spinning their wheels and trapped in a cycle without a solution.

Some properties have thousands in hard cost liens. Some VAD property owners factor fines into the cost of doing business.

The City does not want to be in the foreclosure business. Florida’s property rights laws make finding a solution difficult. 

The City must consider loss of tax revenue from VAD property.

VAD property may be “taxed” by requiring a permit, fee, or some other mechanism to account for lost revenue from the depreciation of surrounding property and service costs to the public.

Properties may need to be reassessed to account for appropriate fee/fine schedule.

“Vacancy/abandonment/deterioration” should be well defined, measured, and tracked by the City.

Data management appears limited to property-by-property analysis.

The public-facing system does not show all fines/fees/information.

A consultant may help identify how collection from fines/fees on VAD property may go to rehabilitation of homesteaded properties.

The City should support neighborhood associations with cleanups, property owner education, ect.