DeKalb approves foreclosure registry

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County residents will soon be able to find the location of the county’s 13,900 foreclosures.

The county commission voted 6-1 Tuesday to require creditors to register foreclosed properties with the county. Commissioner Elaine Boyer, the board’s only Republican, voted against the registry.

The registry, which will require a $175 fee, will be available online and include the owner’s contact information, Commissioner Connie Stokes said.

Stokes, who drafted the resolution, said the registry will require financial institutions to maintain the properties and prevent blight.

“This is not to be a penalty to financial institutions. This is to make sure they know they have to take care of these properties,” she said.

Cassandra Smith, who lives in the Mainstreet subdivision in Stone Mountain, said she has seen property values decline just from something as simple as an overgrown lawn.

“I’m accountant so I think I understand economics, but I still think the lawn can be mowed,” she told commissioners Tuesday. “Mowing the lawn makes a big difference.”

Anyone who violates the registry faces a $1,000 a day fine. The fines, along with the $175 registry fee, will be used to hire more code enforcement officers to enforce the registry. The county will use funds from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to get the program started.

The Atlanta Board of Realtors spoke against the registry, arguing it violates property owners’ rights and stigmatizes properties regardless of their condition.

“It’s based on faulty pretense that a foreclosure poses a danger to the neighborhood,” said Mahogany Rhodes, of Realtors' board.

Stokes, also a real estate broker, said she thinks the registry will help more homes sell and values to stabilize.

“These foreclosed homes remain vacant for months, sometimes years and become blighted,” she said. “They lead to decreased property values and increased crime.”

The registry will go into effect in 90 days.

Fulton and Gwinnett are the only other counties in Georgia with more foreclosures than DeKalb, Stokes said.