Condemned property

A condemned property is one to which authorities have closed, seized, or placed restrictions on for various reasons including public health.

Not to be confused with Eminent domain.

Examples
  • Animal carcasses deemed unfit for human consumption by authorities[1][2]
  • Buildings that are[3]
    • Extremely dilapidated, damaged or deteriorated, so that they are likely to collapse or become an unattractive nuisance
    • A fire hazard
    • A severe health hazard
    • Infested with rodent or vermin
    • Lacking in basic facilities such as water, electricity, and heat
    • In violation of other code requirements that make it dangerous to occupants or the public
  • Food storage premises within the municipality that were deemed non-rat-proof[4]
  • Buildings that have been associated with illegal drug activity[5]

Authority actions in conjunction with condemnation
  • Prohibit or restrict occupancy
  • Prohibit habitation
  • Seize the property
  • Prohibit certain actions such as preparation of food or transaction of business
  • Mandate remedial actions

History

Municipalities of Cumberland, Maryland, were given the power to condemn and seize insanitary buildings in 1915.[6]

In 2000, a Swedish researcher reports a case study in which after many years of puzzlement and contention, a building that housed government employees was condemned for sick building syndrome; that is, something indeterminate about the building itself made the occupants ill.[7]

References
  1. United States, Public Health Service (1912). Municipal Ordinances, Rules and Regulations Pertaining to Public Health Adopted from January 1, 1910 to June 30, 1911, by Cities of the United States Having a Population of Over 25,000 in 1910. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 154.
  2. United States, Public Health Service (1926). Municipal Health Department Practice for the Year 1923. Public Health Bulletin. 164. Treasury Department: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  3. "Condemnation, Unfit for Human Habitation". 20 October 2015.
  4. United States, Public Health Service (1915). Annual Report of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service of the United States. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  5. "RCW 35.80A.010 Condemnation of blighted property". Washington State Legislature.
  6. United States, Public Health Service (1915). Public Health Reports (Volume 30 Part 1 January - June 1915 ed.). Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 517.
  7. Thorn, A. (2000). "Emergence and preservation of a chronically sick building". Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. 54 (7): 552–556. doi:10.1136/jech.54.7.552. PMC 1731714. PMID 10846199.
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