Antioch City Council Looks at Tools to Fix Substandard Properties

On Tuesday, the Antioch City council held a work session prior to its city council meeting to discuss tools for addressing substandard properties.

Although the presentation was focused on residential properties, Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in closed session they would be focusing on 9 commercial properties that the tools could be utilized for.

The city is looking at four things:

1. Injunctions to prevent owners from ignoring properties
2. Take action to address Health & Safety Problems – fines, liens, etc.
3. Utilize receiverships to take control of properties (courts)
4. Eminent domain

Charisse Smith, BBK, Director of Civil Code Enforcement, who has been working on civil code enforcement for 20-years, provided the presentation.

“I am going to be focusing mostly on the receivership remedy because it’s the one that is most nuisance and less known and less used by a lot of the cities in California, but a very powerful tool,” stated Smith.

The agenda included:

1. City Abatement – it’s a fast and easy process compared to litigation, and costs recovered through special assessment. Could be more costly and could read to lawsuit. Best Cases: small stakes – landscaping, inoperable vehicles, demolishing an outbuilding, securing abandoned property
2. Criminal Prosecution – each violation of the Antioch Municipal Code is a misdemeanor unless the City Attorney reduces to an infraction. Best used for appearance type violations such as affecting life, health, or safety—the owner also has to be somewhat cooperative for prosecution.
3. Civil Prosecution – Seeks an injunction ordering the owner to comply, seeks an order appointing a receiver, enter into a settlement agreement with the owner or prospective buy regarding rehabilitation. Could seek civil penalties of $1,000 per day.
4. Discussion of Good Receivership Candidates – typically for residential properties (single family, motel/hotel, apartment complex. Could be used for Commercial or Industrial if it is neglected and building is used as housing by transients. Neglected residential property include:

• • Deceased owner
  • Non-responsive owner
  • Slum lord
  • Fraud
  • Pre-foreclosure/foreclosure
  • Abandoned vs. occupied
  • Incompetent owner
  • Recently: marijuana grow houses

According to Smith, abandoned properties are more likely to be granted receivership by the courts versus an owner occupied. Judges are more hesitant to appoint a receiver to take over a property where an owner is living in the property than a property where the owner has abandoned or the owner cannot be found.  The court will drag out owner-occupied cases to give owner every opportunity to comply. Its also likely the owner will lose their home through the receivership process. She encouraged the city to do everything to work with the owner first, before seeking Receivership.

Smith explained said the city will need to show the building is in a manner that violates Health & Safety Code 17920.3 or similar local ordinances. Nature of the violations must be extensive that the occupants or public is endangered. City will also have to establish why the public is substantially endangered.

5. What to Expect Through the Litigation Process

• • Owner/Lender may now be more willing to cooperate
  • Owner may want to sell property “as is”
  • Lender may now be more apt to approve a short sale, if necessary
  • Lender may foreclose and correct violations
  • Owner/lender may oppose the need for litigation, an injunction, or appointment of a receiver.
  • If owner does respond, allow Owner additional time to comply
  • If own fails to respond appropriately, file Motion to Appoint a Receiver
  • If unable to serve summons or if owner is deceased, will need to pish the summons for effective service.
  • Receivership Hearing – judge may take several actions from ordering the owner to abate, continue hearing for additional time, appoints new receiver, appoints receive but at a future date to allow more time.

5. What to expect during the Receivership Process

• more thorough economic feasibility study, development of a rehab plan, demo, or sell “as is” to investor.
• Final Steps:
  • Receiver rehabs or sells property and oversees rehab Owner/lender given opportunity to redeem if receive borrowed funds for rehab
  • If no redemption, receiver seeks court permission to sell the property
  • Receiver pays off his lender and holds funds until court makes determination on distribution
  • Dismisses case upon distribution
• Pitfalls & Potential Problems
  • Owner brings property into compliance and argues city did not allow reasonable opportunity for owner to comply
  • Owner files bankruptcy after rehab but before sale of property
  • HUD, Federal or state tax liens exceeds the value of the property
  • Lender argues the city fees and costs cannot take priority over their lien

Council Discussion

After the presentation, Mayor Lamar Thorpe said the goal was to think through the older commercial properties.  Thorpe also said they would discuss eminent domain at a later meeting which is part of four strategies the city may be using.

Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock said she believed the presentation would be more on commercial properties (such as Buchanan & Delta Fair) and not so much on residential but also questioned if the city could even do eminent domain on these commercial properties.

Thorpe said they would be discussing eminent domain in the future and the property mentioned by Ogorchock would be discussed in closed session.

“Right now, its about understanding what tools are available to this council and what steps we could potentially take if we wanted to go in that direction,” stated Thorpe. “When we get to closed session, I think it will be more about commercial properties, not residential. I think our focus will be commercial properties.”

Smith clarified stating the receivership process could be used for commercial properties but only when it was being used for housing—such as occupants via trespassing or transients.

“It could be very powerful in eliminating the blight of commercial properties,” stated Smith.

Neither councilmembers Mike Barbanica, Tamisha Torres-Walker or Monica Wilson offered commentary after the presentation.

The council then went into closed session and did not report out what the 9 properties they were looking at were. Since this was a presentation, no formal action could be taken or direction given to staff.

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Related

 Video: Antioch Mayor Announces Hiring Program, Probation’s Partnership and Puts Property Owners on Notice

Back in July 2021, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe held a press conference announcing initiatives that he hopes will make the community safer while holding property owners and business responsible for contributing to crime while also promised County Probation would be working from Sycamore Square.

Thorpe also threatened the use of eminent domain on businesses:

“Today, I am officially putting private property and business owners, where illicit activities is common place on notice. If you are uncooperative, not proactive in abating illegal drug activity or storefront owners are serving as a safe haven for drug dealers to bypass the loitering and trespassing laws, the city will declare you a public nuisance under the California Public Safety Code under Section 11570-11587,” said Thorpe. “If that happens, we will then use the full force of the city attorney’s office to then condemn your property and eminent domain it. Then this property will look like the property across the street, an empty lot. I am promising you that. We are not playing around with these games anymore. Its over and done. We have to keep these streets safe and the quality of life above anything else.”

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Split 3-2 Vote: Antioch City Council Postpones Decision on Delta Fair Village Apartments

Back in Sept. of 2020, the Antioch City Council voted to continue blight indefinitely after postponing moving a $100+ million project forward that would have begun redeveloping a blighted shopping center at the corner of Delta Fair Blvd and Buchanan in the City of Antioch.

If approved, the property would have began being cleaned up and redeveloped into a new shopping center and apartment complex. Currently, the property is full of empty buildings, boarded up retail, garbage all over the property and many homeless frequenting the area.

The project was put on hold in a 3-2 vote after Councilmembers Lamar Thorpe, Joy Motts and Monica Wilson had concerns over the property owners handling of blight and fines over the past five years. Meanwhile, Mayor Sean Wright and Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock called it an opportunity to clean up a blighted area in town and begin the redevelopment of an area desperately in need.

The Delta Fair Village Multi-Family home project was a 210-apartment unit facility that would have been developed at the corner of Delta Fair and Buchanan Road with a new 4,000 square foot retail building. In total, there would be five buildings. The total size of the project was estimated of 411,511 square feet with renovation of existing 73,535 of retail space.

The applicant, Chui Family LLC, proposed a residential density of 45 units per acre which is the highest allowed per the General Plan. There would be 392 parking spaces including 324 in a gated parking garage, 38 on parking garage tandem, 68 spaces outside of the building along with bicycle parking area.