This week, Mayor Donald R. Grebien announced that the City identified nine abandoned and problem properties to be placed in receivership. In its second year of the program, the City identifies properties that have numerous outstanding violations that have not been remedied with the zoning and code enforcement department and are unoccupied. With the help and support of the City Council to strengthen the ordinances, the receivership program was established to ensure cleaner, safer neighborhoods for our residents, and positively impact surrounding property values.

 “The receivership process is another tool for the City to improve the quality of life, property values and aesthetics for our residents and neighborhoods,” said Mayor Grebien. “We hear about these problem properties from residents who take pride in their neighborhood, and have made it a priority. We will be moving aggressively to have these problem properties cleaned up, as well as others across the city.”

 In 2017, the City identified five nuisance properties and petitioned the Rhode Island Superior Court to place them into receivership to move forward with abatement. The properties were either appointed a receiver to oversee their clean-up, rehabilitation, and sale or the current owners moved forward with repairs to the properties.