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NEWS
Housing fixes get favorable reception
The West Virginia State Capitol building in Charleston, W.Va.
Purchase this photoCHARLESTON -- While pleas for municipal pension reform may have fallen short in the Legislature, city officials are having greater success with bills that would address dilapidated housing issues.
Four bills aimed at holding people accountable for cleaning up rundown properties were introduced during the legislative session, which ends at midnight today. Three of the bills already have been sent to Gov. Joe Manchin for his signature, while the fourth has passed the House and awaits a vote today in the Senate.
Proponents of the bills attribute their success to an interim committee study last year that showed several cities, large and small, were struggling with problems stemming from dilapidated housing.
"This is an issue that's been bubbling to the surface for several years," said Lisa Dooley, executive director of the West Virginia Municipal League. "Cities have been trying to deal with it through code enforcement and grant applications, but it only goes so far."
The process that West Virginia cities must follow to tear down dilapidated homes is not quick enough to keep up with the backlog of vacant structures that either need to be demolished or are a few years away from their demise, city officials say.
To compound the problem in Huntington, the city does not have enough funding to make a significant impact.
The city allocates about $200,000 every year to its demolition program, which often is enough to tear down about 20 homes.
But the city has labeled 513 homes as substandard since 2003, and officials say there are probably dozens more that are in disrepair but haven't been identified yet because the city has only one housing inspector.
House Bill 4137, which was sent to Manchin earlier this week, cleans up language in state law to make it easier for cities to get reimbursed for demolition costs.
Some homeowner's insurance policies include coverage for debris removal after a fire. If a city tears down a building that is a total loss within six months of a fire, it can file a claim with the property owner's insurance company and get reimbursed for the demolition costs.
But Huntington fire officials have complained that insurance companies are not notifying them when a policy includes a debris-removal provision. The bill requires insurance companies to send a notice to the city and county in which an applicable fire-damaged property is located.
House Bill 4156 was sent to Manchin on Friday after the House passed it with a 73-18 vote. The bill would allow cities to file liens that equal the full cost they incur to demolish a structure and/or institute civil action in court to recover all costs associated with the property. The House has to concur with Senate amendments to the bill before it can be sent to Manchin.
Under existing law, cities can either file liens that equal a demolished property's assessed value, which is 60 percent of the fair market value, or institute civil action in court to recover the full costs of demolition.
House Bill 4386, which passed the House 74-18 Friday and now heads to the governor's desk, would allow cities to create a vacant property registration for buildings that have been vacant for more than six months and violate local building codes. Property owners would have to pay fees for not cleaning up their property. If they choose not to pay the fees after two years, the cities could initiate foreclosure proceedings.
Some cities, including Huntington, already have a vacant property registration, but having a state law to back it up makes the program more enforceable, Dooley said.
House Bill 4333, which is slated for a vote in the Senate today, would authorize the state Insurance Commission to establish rules requiring insurance companies to escrow a portion of a fire damage claim for cleanup costs when the claim exceeds 60 percent of the value of the policy.
If the property owner tore down the property within a certain amount of time, the money in the escrow account would be returned to the owner. But if the owner walked away, the city could use the escrow money for cleanup costs.
The bill is similar to a proposal in the city of Huntington's application to become part of a five-year, home rule pilot program.
Huntington Mayor David Felinton said Cabell County Delegate Jim Morgan is a large reason for the bills' success. Morgan, who is a sponsor on all of the bills, listened to Huntington's concerns about dilapidated housing and paid close attention to its home rule application, Felinton said.
"It's exciting to see Delegate Morgan and the rest of the Legislature looking at the initiatives that cities have been discussing through their home rule applications," Felinton said. "Their philosophy in introducing legislation has been to let cities have these powers full-time."
