minutes 3-10-08 meeting

Meeting 3-10-08
Attendance approx 35 present
Northside homeowners
Minutes
Discussion
Northside home show reminder date and time
North High Saturday Mar 15 10-3
If anyone would want to volunteer by canvassing you help would be
appreciated.

Brief explanation of recent council actions
Adopt a house program
6,000 board up fee
Conversion fee
Acquisition fund.
Hofstede proposal for tiered license
Applaud what they have done but
Expressed need for city to do more to prevent home going to rental when
buying begins.
Explained where we are at with Landlord Registry proposal at MN House
level.

14K in forgivable loan fund for home buying from GMHC need for us to be
advocates to get people into these homes, as well as embrace the adopt
a home policy, even though its not our duty it will help keep the homes
in better shape for the future if we watch out.

A special thank you to Roberta Englund, And Folwell N-hood Assoc. for
loaning their power point equip. to us for our use.


Intro — Rich Jackson, Problem Properties Officer guest speaker for
evening; his presentation is noted in the following article for the
Camden News (Raw Version)

Special Guest 4th Precinct problem Properties office Rich Jackson
(below summary and article for Camden News)

With 503 Boarded up homes on the Northside Officer Rich Jackson has his
hands full. Officer Jackson is the 4th Precinct problem properties
officer. The MPD problem properties unit is a collaborative network
including the city’s inspections department, city attorney’s office,
and many units within the police department.

With 824 foreclosed homes currently on the books as of Feb. 2008 on the
Northside it sounds that he will be even busier. Many experts on
foreclosure are warning we should expect to see many more foreclosures
this year and declines not expected until mid 2009.

What is a problem property? An address which is a “chronic problem”
meaning 3 or more “contacts” in a short period of time (3 or more
within three months), no resolutions by normal police or city
inspection efforts, a negative to the community or a threat to public
safety.

Foreclosed and abandon homes are obvious targets for crime. The big
orange stickers on their front become invitations for future troubles.
Most prevalent and devastating are copper and aluminum theft and other
household fixtures. Other problems to be on the rise this spring are
squatters, and these homes becoming party houses.

“Once a house is raided for copper it has to be boarded and condemned,”
says Jackson. “These are considered unlivable conditions, lacking the
services required for habitation.” Once the boards go on many will sit
boarded for years until the city either tears the property down or they
are sold to an owner willing to bring them up to code stem to stern. .
Just this week a foreclosed home on the 3700 block of Emerson was
raided for copper in the middle of the night. Neighbors were alarmed
when the smell of gas awoke them to the problem.

Weeks ago the Minneapolis City Council approved a board up fee increase
from the current $2000 to an assessed fee of $6000. This fee will be
assessed to the property. A price tag closer reflecting the actual fee
of boarding up foreclosed and abandon homes. The assessment will be
settled when the home is sold to either by the seller or buyer.

Jackson, who spoke recently to homeowners at the most recent Northside
Homeowners’ Association meeting, would like to see more criminal
consequences instead of civil action for owners of problem properties.
“A slap on the hand is not enough”. Many of these properties are rental
units and revisions of city rental codes and policies would go a long
way to addressing problem property with tougher penalties on their
owners.

Criminal statutes for property crime, a 3 strike your out policy for
landlords, as well as stricter accountability standards, mandatory code
of conduct added to leases and a landlord registry were suggestions
brought forward by Jackson and the community to curb problem
properties. At current the City of Minneapolis does not even require
landlords to have a lease with a tenant.

Change in the community. “The biggest thing to change North Minneapolis
is you” Jackson said. Sound and old advice. To be the eyes and ears of
your community and call 311 or 911 is you see something suspicious on
your block is the standard. A simple action, which it seems, we may not
be doing enough of. As a caught burglar told Jackson upon arrest the
criminals think they have a better chance of being caught in NE because
people will call from there. So they come over here to north because
people don’t call.
There may be a grain of truth to our complacency for too long the
community has not been vocal and thus has been underserved.

When asked about the most recent crime declines and the notion that
perhaps there would be a reduction in crime because there are less
people. “It’s not that crime isn’t happening people aren’t reporting
it” Jackson stated in response.

What can we do?

People please call 911 or 311 if you see people in an abandon home or
other suspicious activity on your block. The City of Minneapolis
recently has sent out a plea for the community to “adopt a house”.
Asking citizens to watch over the boarded up, abandon foreclosed homes
found on almost every block throughout north Minneapolis. It is an
unfortunate and unrealistic expectation that the “owner”- the mortgage
company left with a foreclosed property would be required or even
actually willingly maintain their property.

It is in all our best interests to watch over these abandon properties.
Two separate research studies estimate for each abandon home on a block
the surrounding homes should expect a 1% to 3% decrease in property
values. If the financial loss is not incentive perhaps curb appeal of
the community and public safety are better considerations.


If we want to have a more stable Northside we as the “community left
behind” have to become recruits in the fight to save it. By not only
letting potential criminals know we watch and we call 911 if trouble
occurs. We also need to keep streets and the area around boarded up
homes and our blocks clean. We have to become advocates and recruiters
for responsible homeowners and new members to our community.