Nuisance complaints flood city attorney's office

Oct. 3 -- Complaints about nuisance properties are overwhelming the city attorney's office's ability to deal with them, according to City Attorney Grant Langley.

Aldermen made numerous nuisance property referrals to his office in August and September, he said.

"We don't have the resources to deal with every single one," Langley told the Finance and Personnel Committee last week.

There are now 67 nuisance property referrals pending in his office, Langley said. Of those, eight are in litigation.

The city attorney's office is trying to develop a system to determine which nuisance complaints should be dealt with first, he said.

Ald. Michael D'Amato said it would be difficult to tell neighborhood residents complaining about a property that "of the most important things citywide, you're like 15th on the list."

Langley said the city budget for receiverships -- a process in which the city takes over the management of a property -- was cut last year $400,000 to $300,000.

While the funding for that option has been reduced, there are other ways of dealing with nuisance properties, he said. A new state law allows the city to pursue both the property owner and the mortgage holder for nuisance abatement at problem properties, he said.

The city also is considering an agreement with the district attorney's office that would grant to the D.A.'s community prosecutor the authority to act as an assistant city attorney in nuisance property cases, Langley said.

With the additional enforcement powers, that attorney would have "an additional arrow in his quiver" to deal with the properties, Langley said.