§ 40:600.34 — Blighted housing property list; creation, maintenance, and challenges thereto

Louisiana § 40:600.34

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 40: Public Health and Safety

Text

§600.34. Blighted housing property list; creation, maintenance, and challenges thereto
A. Creation and content. (1) A local governmental subdivision may adopt an
ordinance directing a public officer to identify residential housing properties below minimum
habitability standards for the purpose of establishing a blighted housing property list which
may be a list of such properties throughout the local governmental subdivision or only within
those parts of the local governmental subdivision as the governing body may designate by
resolution.
(2) The ordinance may direct the public officer to exclude from the inventory of
blighted housing property any property for which the expense to the local governmental
subdivision of determining the cost of environmental remediation required under state or
federal law would be excessive in the judgment of the local governing body.
(3) Each blighted housing property on the inventory so identified shall include the
tax block and lot number, the name of the owner of record, if known, and the street address
of the lot. No residential housing property in an area impacted by Hurricane Katrina or
Hurricane Rita which was occupied as of August 28, 2005, shall be included on the inventory
as a blighted housing property if the owner is eligible for and receives assistance under the
Road Home Housing Program.
(4) Evidence of utility connections, including sewer, water, electric, or gas and
billings to an occupant for the month of July or August 2005 shall be presumptive evidence
that a residential housing property was occupied as of August 28, 2005.
(5) Residential housing properties that, as of June 13, 2006, were adjudicated or
declared blighted by the local governmental subdivision in accordance with all applicable
laws may be added to the blighted housing property list without any additional notice to the
owner or secured parties.
B. Maintenance of blighted housing property list. (1) In those local governmental
subdivisions in which an inventory has been conducted and blighted housing properties have
been identified, the public officer shall establish and maintain a list of blighted housing
properties, to be known as the "blighted housing property list".
(2) The local governmental subdivision may add properties to the blighted housing
property list at any time and may delete properties at any time when the public officer finds
that the property no longer meets the definition of a blighted housing property. Any party in
interest may request that a residential housing property below minimum habitability
standards be included on the blighted housing property list by filing an affidavit with the
public officer of a local governmental subdivision certifying the basis for such person being
a party in interest and the conditions of the property that make the property unfit for human
habitation, occupancy, or use.
(3) Upon receipt of such an affidavit, the public officer or any qualified rehabilitation
entity designated by the local governmental subdivision shall be empowered to inspect the
property and make a determination as to whether the property should be declared a blighted
housing property. A residential housing property that is below minimum habitability
standards shall not be included on the blighted housing property list if rehabilitation is being
performed by the owner in a timely manner, as evidenced by building permits issued and
diligent pursuit of rehabilitation work authorized by those permits, or by the filing of a
rehabilitation plan approved by the court.
C. Rules and regulations prescribing risk guidelines. The state housing agency, in
conjunction with the state departments of environmental quality and health, shall adopt rules
and regulations prescribing guidelines and criteria for assessing and determining if a
residential housing property is harmful to the health or welfare, including the economic
welfare, of the residents of the local governmental subdivision wherein the residential
housing property is located, or unfit for human habitation, occupancy, or use, and whether
such property is undergoing rehabilitation in a timely manner within the meaning of
Subsection B of this Section. The public officer shall apply such standards in conducting any
inventory pursuant to this Section.
D. Notice to owners with properties on the blighted housing properties list.
(1) A public officer, within thirty days of the completion of the blighted housing
property list, or any additions thereto, shall send a notice, by certified mail, return receipt
requested, and by regular mail, to the owner of record of every property included on the list
and shall cause the list, including periodic updates to the list, to be published in the official
journal of the local governmental subdivision, which publication shall constitute public
notice, and, to the extent that the local governmental subdivision maintains an informational
web site, post the list on the local governmental subdivision's informational web site.
(2) The published and mailed notices shall identify property determined to be
blighted housing property setting forth the owner of record, if known, the tax lot and block
number, and street address.
(3) The public officer, in consultation with the tax collector, shall also send out a
notice by regular mail to any mortgagee, servicing organization, or property tax processing
organization that receives a duplicate copy of the tax bill. When the owner of record is not
known for a particular property and cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
diligence by the public officer, notice shall not be mailed but instead shall be posted on the
property and published in the official journal of the local governmental subdivision.
(4) The mailed notice shall include the factual basis for the public officer's finding
that the property is blighted housing property, specifying the information relied upon in
making such finding, and the owner's right and procedures to appeal the finding.
E. Challenges to listing on blighted housing property list. (1) An owner or secured
party may challenge the inclusion of his property on the blighted housing property list by
appealing that determination to the hearing officer within sixty days of the owner's receipt
of the certified notice.
(2) In the case of a notice that is returned as undeliverable or an owner whose
identity was not known to the public officer, the owner shall have ninety days from the date
upon which notice was published or posted, whichever is later, to challenge the inclusion of
a property on the blighted housing property list.
(3) For good cause shown, the hearing officer shall accept a late filing of an appeal.
Within thirty days of receipt of a request for an appeal of the findings, the hearing officer
shall schedule a hearing of the matter at which the owner or any party in interest may present
oral or written testimony that the property should not be included on the list.
(4) The owner or any party in interest may submit documentation including but not
limited to photographs, repair invoices, bills, and construction contracts to challenge the
inclusion of the property on the list.
(5) The hearing officer shall render a decision on the appeal within thirty days of the
hearing and shall promptly, by certified mail, return receipt requested, notify the property
owner of the decision and the reasons therefor.
F. Appeal of blighted property designation. The property owner may challenge an
adverse determination of an appeal with the hearing officer, by filing an appeal in the court
in the parish in which the property is located. Such action shall be instituted within thirty
days of the date of the notice of decision mailed by the hearing officer. The failure to
institute an action of appeal on a timely basis shall constitute a jurisdictional bar to
challenging the adverse determination, except that, for good cause shown, the court may
extend the deadline for instituting the action.
G. Removal of properties from blighted housing property list. The public officer
shall promptly remove any property from the blighted housing property list that has been
determined not to be a blighted housing property on appeal.

Legislative History

Acts 2006, No. 355, §1, eff. June 13, 2006; Acts 2018, No. 206, §4.