Two Alabama laws target Mobile blight by speeding sales and giving neighbors first bid

MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) — Two new Alabama laws are aimed at tackling blight in the city of Mobile. One speeds up the city’s ability to deal with abandoned properties that have become neighborhood eyesores. The other gives neighboring homeowners the first chance to buy abandoned properties before they ever reach a public auction.

For Earl Moore, the overgrown lot on Boykin Blvd. is more than an eyesore. He says he can’t get home insurance because the large tree limbs from the vacant lot hang over his house.

“I’ve been trying to get that straight for the longest,” said Moore.

A new law sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond could help. If the property – and others like it – go through the city’s municipal code lien foreclosure process, Moore and other neighboring property owners will get the first opportunity to buy it.

“If it’s affordable, I’d be glad to jump on it,” said Moore.

“This law will simply say that before you put it out to the public, you have to notify Mr. Moore or even the next property owner,” said Drummond. “This way the people in the neighborhood, who are living this every day, will have knowledge that what you have right next door to you is for sale, and if you choose to buy it, and you can, you can extend his property rights. I think it’s going to help us in the long run.”

Drummond says complaints about blight come up at every community meeting she attends. She says the goal is to give residents a chance to invest in and improve their own neighborhoods.

“We have too much blight, and this way we’re going to give citizens an opportunity to help us rid the city of that blight by making them become owners,” said Drummond.

Drummond also sponsored a bill that was signed into law that speeds up the city’s municipal code lien foreclosure process. Both laws only apply to Mobile.

“These specific properties are going to be ones that were identified via code enforcement 99.9% of the time, ones that need to be demolished. So, that’s where that code lien comes from,” said Baxter Bishop, Mobile’s Housing Improvement Program Director.

Under the new law, foreclosure sales will be able to occur 30 days after a court order instead of 45 days, and the deed must be executed within 30 days of the sale instead of 90 days.

“So, instead of having to wait an extra month or two, you know some of these timelines were 90 days and we cut them down to 30, that’s allowing the city to move faster and hoping that we can get that property turned back over into productive use,” said Bishop.

Both laws go into effect on October 1st this year.