A DeKalb County lawmaker wants to create a state standard for vacant property lists, a move he says would tamp down on fees and paperwork.
House Bill 110 would also limit how much local governments can charge creditors to file their properties and even how much they can pay in fines.
"We want to keep it economically viable for local governments to maintain these registries but not looking to their registries as a cash cow," said Rep. Mike Jacobs, the Brookhaven Republican behind the proposal.
The limits would have a unique impact on DeKalb, which last year became the first county in the state to begin requiring the registration of vacant property.
At the time, the county had nearly 14,000 foreclosed properties, third behind only Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
DeKalb charges a $175 filing fee to be on its registry. Violators face a $1,000-a-day fine.
The new proposal would limit the filing fee to $25 and fines to $100 per month.
DeKalb uses the majority of its fees from the registry to pay code enforcement officers and other staff to monitor these properties, DeKalb Commissioner Jeff Rader said.
"You need to look not just at the costs of maintaining the registry, but what it takes to monitor these foreclosed properties, which are susceptible to vandalism and code violations," Rader said Tuesday.
The county would have to pay staff to care for these properties anyway in either the form of code violations or police response. Rader said he would prefer that registry fees -- rather than tax dollars -- go toward these costs.
Rader said he hopes the Legislature studies the true costs of what it would take to maintain and monitor the registry before taking action.
The proposal, which also would require the same forms and procedures across the state, was sent to committee on Tuesday for review.
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