ENB-18.45 - Multnomah County Waivers

Title 29 of the Portland City Code is known as the Property Maintenance Code. Among other things, this code sets minimum standards for maintaining residential properties within the City of Portland . This code also includes provisions for citing both nuisance and housing maintenance violations. To gain compliance with this code, Title 29 allows for the charging of Code Enforcement Fines on properties that fail to comply with the cited regulations in a timely manner. To prevent accumulating fines from causing undue hardship and/or when extenuation circumstances may impede timely code correction, Section 29.60.100 authorizes the Director of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) to adopt exceptions. This waiver is one of the exceptions that have been adopted. A waiver policy defines the criteria and time frame for suspending Code Enforcement Fines. It also identifies conditions under which a waiver exception will be cancelled and fines re-instated.

PURPOSE:

Per Oregon Statue ORS_________ it is unlawful for the City of Portland to assess fines on a property foreclosed upon by Multnomah County . Per the Tuttle agreement, reached by Multnomah County and the City of Portland , if the County is able to sell the property and recoup their assessments, they will then pay a portion or all of our fines assessed prior to their ownership.

APPLICATION:

NO application, identified internally.

FEE:

There is no application fee for a Multnomah County Waiver.

APPEAL:

If the property owner wishes to appeal the denial of a waiver they must request the appeal within fifteen (15) days of the written denial. The appeal must be made in writing and submitted to Neighborhood Inspections, 111 SW Columbia St, Suite 670, Portland OR 97201 . The property owner will have the opportunity to present additional information during this appeal. A written determination will be mailed to the owner. This determination can be appealed to the Code Hearings Office within ten (10) business days of its issuance.

POLICY:

ONI will grant from the date the property qualifies a suspension of Code Enforcement Fines if a property is identified internally as purchased by Multnomah County.

A. Requirements to Qualify for a Multnomah County Waiver

The following requirements must be met to qualify for the Multnomah

1. Multnomah County is in legal possession of the property;

2. The property must be unoccupied (EXCEPTION: homeless shelters, with all fire, life and safety violations corrected);

3. The property is clear of any other code violations administered by Neighborhood Inspections (Nuisance, Disabled Vehicles Additional Housing Violations, Re-occupancy prior to approval);

5. The property can be commercial, residential, or mixed use.

B. General Information

1. Upon approval of the MultnomahCounty waiver, monthly Code

Enforcement Fines will be suspended for 12 months beginning with the

first billing cycle after the date the property qualifies;

2. MultnomahCounty waivers are not renewable;

3. Multnomah Waivers are not transferable;

4. MultnomahCounty must report the status of properties with property

maintenance violations to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement on a

quarterly basis;

5. Waiver requests must be in writing with a separate request for each

Property. The request must show the acquisition date or the date MultnomahCounty took legal responsibility for the property. A property may be identified internally as recently purchased by MultnomahCounty.

C. Waiver Cancellation Policy

Multnomah County Waivers will be cancelled immediately if any of the conditions listed below occur during the waiver period.

1. The property becomes occupied; or

2. There has been an ownership change.

3. If the property is cited for nuisance conditions under Title 29 Nuisance Code, the owner has 15 days to correct the violations. If the violations are not corrected, resulting in abatement by City Contractors, the waiver will be cancelled.

NOTE: If the waiver is cancelled for any of the above reasons, it cannot be

re-activated until the issue is resolved and approved by the housing inspector.

A cancellation letter will be mailed to the owner of the property and monthly Code Enforcement Fines will start with the next the next billing cycle after the cancellation.

HISTORY

Revised April 26, 2004

Filed for inclusion in PPD September 30, 2004.

Revised June 6, 2007 and filed in PPD June 16, 2006.