City attorney outlines limited legal tools for abandoned 'zombie' properties; staff to inventory local cases

City Attorney Hillary Evans and Community Development Director Stacy Pratcher briefed the council on long-vacant properties, commonly called “zombie properties,” explaining why such properties are difficult to remediate and outlining options the city could pursue.

Evans said zombie properties typically arise when an owner dies without probate, a property enters a stalled foreclosure, or an owner becomes unreachable. Abandoned houses can attract vandalism, squatters, trash, pests and other public-safety problems. She discussed a 2018 Washington statutory pathway intended to help municipalities and mortgage servicers cooperate to abate nuisances and obtain certificates of abandonment, but said the statute’s utility is limited in practice when there is no lender or mortgage servicer to engage.

Evans reviewed available city tools: chronic-nuisance abatement (used when illegal activity generates repeated police calls), emergency abatement (when there is an immediate public-safety hazard), vacant-building monitoring programs, vacant-building or nuisance ordinances used by other jurisdictions, targeted litigation/receiver strategies and potential developer partnerships to repurpose problematic lots. She said many tools are resource intensive, sometimes legally risky, and often do not result in quick cost recovery.

Pratcher recommended the immediate next step: a city inventory of suspected abandoned or vacant properties that can be verified from the public right of way. That inventory would let staff estimate the scope of the problem, prioritize properties that pose imminent hazards and consider programmatic responses (e.g., targeted code changes, monitoring, or selective abatement and lien filing).

Council members described neighborhood cases and urged a practical approach. Staff said they will prioritize an inventory once a code-enforcement officer is hired and will return with options and cost estimates for abatement or monitoring programs.

Ending: Staff will begin an inventory and bring back recommendations on a case-by-case and programmatic basis; legal and budget implications will follow.