Order to vacate

	Order to vacate
	Neighborhood and Community Services Department

When an occupied building or structure is found to have violations rendering it unfit for human occupancy, a code enforcement officer may post the property and order it vacated. Posting and ordering a property vacated will require individuals to be displaced and in the need of temporary shelter.

There are many different conditions that may cause a property to be vacated. The following are some of the more common conditions that can cause a property to be ordered vacated:

Interior of dwelling is unsanitary
There is raw sewage standing in the basement
Electrical system is unsafe
Heat is not supplied to every habitable room in the winter
There is no running water.

After the code enforcement officer verifies that violations exist that render the structure unfit for human occupancy, he may order the property vacated. At that time, order to vacate signs will be posted on the building or structure with the code enforcement officer's name, telephone number and a list of the violations that render the building or structure uninhabitable. The order to vacate signs cannot be removed until the violations rendering the structure uninhabitable are abated.

A legal order to vacate notice will be mailed to the owner and occupant, listing the code violations that made the property uninhabitable. Also, the code enforcement officer will attach a copy of the order to vacate notice to the building or structure.

After a property is posted with an order to vacate, in order to gain access to the property, an access permit must be obtained by the property owner. An access permit will be issued for the following purposes:

Removing personal belongings
Making repairs
Boarding up and securing the property.

When the code violations listed on the order to vacate notice have been corrected, the property owner can obtain a certificate of reoccupancy letter from the Neighborhood Preservation Division. This allows for the order to vacate signs to be removed from the property and for the property to be inhabited.

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