Vacant Buildings Are Mostly Ignoring Their Annual $765 Fee

The city's anti-blight ordinance has so far not turned in a lot of remorseful buildings — according to the Chron, only a third of the vacant/blighted properties that have received notice of their blightedness have been registered with the city. The $765-or-pay-the-fine fee is meant to simultaneously pay for more building inspections and encourage building owners to return their buildings into proper use as upstanding citizens in a neighborhood. The Department of Building Inspection, which sees the low return rate as "frustrating," has not yet opted to slap down the $6,885 fine, in hopes that voluntary compliance will perhaps rise. In the meantime, they'll probably have to make do with going straight to voicemail every time they call.
· S.F. blight law shows few results so far [SFGate]
· Vacant Buildings Are Getting Slapped With a Friendly $765 Fee [Curbed SF]