The Statute Asks You for a Plan
Section 36-49.1:1 of the Code of Virginia authorises spot blight abatement, and its structure is unusual. Most provisions in this field tell an owner what will be done to them. This one asks the owner to write something first.
A spot blight abatement plan is defined as the written plan prepared by the owner or owners of record of the real property to address spot blight. The owner has 30 days from the date the notice is sent in which to respond in writing with such a plan, addressing the blight within a reasonable time.
What Counts as Blighted?
The full position is on our page covering the thirty day plan.
What Happens If Nobody Writes One
Under subsection C, if the owner fails to respond within the 30-day period with a written plan acceptable to the chief executive, the agency, authority or locality may request the locality to declare the property blighted.
And the definition contains the sentence owners should read twice: if the owner fails to respond as provided, the locality or the authority can prepare a spot blight abatement plan itself.
So Somebody Else Decides What Happens to My House?
Two Routes Open, and They Are Cumulative
Acquire or repair. Under subsection A, a locality or authority has power to acquire or repair blighted property, inside or outside a conservation or redevelopment area, by purchase or through eminent domain under Chapter 2 of Title 25.1, and to hold, clear, repair, manage or dispose of it.
Declare it a nuisance. Under subsection G, in lieu of acquisition and of the other powers, a locality may by ordinance declare blighted property a nuisance and abate it under section 15.2-900 or 15.2-1115, after written notice by certified mail to the owner at the last known address shown on the current real estate tax assessment records.
The statute states expressly that its provisions are cumulative and in addition to any other remedies for spot blight abatement authorised by law.
What a Fire-Damaged Richmond Property Is Actually Worth
The Terms That Move the Number Here
Whether anything has been sent. The first question, because the window runs from the date the notice is sent rather than the date you read it.
Where the property's mail goes. On an inherited or vacant house this is frequently the whole problem.
Whether a plan exists. The document the statute asks for and almost nobody produces.
Whether anything is recorded. Liens under this section are filed in the circuit court.
Which locality. Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and the towns each administer their own.
Anyone quoting without asking whether a notice has been sent has priced a building and ignored the clock attached to it.
The Liens Are Different Depending on the Route
Worth understanding because they behave differently.
Under subsection G, where an ordinance is adopted, the locality has a lien on property repaired or acquired under an approved plan, to recover the cost of improvements made to bring the property into compliance with applicable building codes and the cost of disposal. That lien is filed in the circuit court where the property is located and is subordinate to any prior liens of record.
Under the nuisance route, where the owner does not abate and the locality does so at its expense, the costs are a lien on the property bearing interest at the legal rate established in section 6.2-301, running from the date the abatement is completed through the date the lien is paid.
The Address on the Tax Records Matters
Notice goes to the owner at the last known address as shown on the current real estate tax assessment books or records. Not to where you live now, unless those two are the same.
For an executor, an heir, or an owner who has moved, that is the single most consequential administrative detail in this whole area, and it costs nothing to check.
How the Timeline Runs
An open claim does not prevent a sale. What shortens a Richmond owner's options is a notice that reached an old address, thirty days spent unaware, and a buyer who has not asked whether any of it has happened.
If you are weighing several offers, how to tell local cash buyers apart covers the checks that separate them.
Questions Owners Ask
Nothing Has Arrived. Am I Fine?
For now, and it is worth confirming that the address on the tax records is one you actually receive post at. The window runs from when notice is sent.
What Does a Plan Have to Say?
The statute asks for a written plan to address the blight within a reasonable time, acceptable to the chief executive. Specific, dated and realistic beats elaborate.
Can I Sell With an Open Claim?
Yes. Who keeps the proceeds is a contract term rather than a legal barrier.
Does Selling Count as a Plan?
A plan to sell to somebody who will repair is a plan, and whether it is acceptable is for the chief executive rather than for us. It is worth putting in writing rather than assuming.
Sources
- Code of Virginia section 36-49.1:1 — spot blight abatement authorized; procedure
- Code of Virginia section 36-3 — definitions of blighted property and spot blight abatement plan
- Code of Virginia sections 15.2-900 and 15.2-1115 — nuisance abatement
- Code of Virginia Title 25.1 Chapter 2 — eminent domain procedure
- Code of Virginia section 6.2-301 — legal rate of interest