Way to Many Code Violations (Georgia)

[Janelle Mcleod]

Howdy BP friends,

I found 4 properties today (while driving home) and all four properties have a notice posted to the door "Final Notice of Violation by Code Enforcement" etc... etc.

(Forgive me. Still new and still learning. But I see so many abandoned properties with boarded up windows and I wondering how many others are trying to reach the owners too?!?!)

....anyway

I'm in GA. I did call the code enforcement officer number on the notice posted and he was very limited on what he can share with me over the phone...In GA, we're not allowed to just go to the court house and get a list of these code violations he says too. (you know ever state is totally different).  Then he gave me his senior rep's contact info. So I called the senior rep who makes all the decisions on the properties and how he takes legal actions. Awaiting his, the senior rep, return phone call....

Came home and did my research and see all of these vacant homes are owned by a company (like in "LLC's"). What does the "final notice" pretty much mean? Is it too late for me to try to reach out and locate the owners of these "Final Notice of Violation by Code Enforcement" properties etc? The homes are pretty good (may need some minor repairs though) but are in a pretty decent neighborhood. Since I am new to the investing side and getting started, my goal is to wholesale properties first so I can build capital and use the funds to do what I really want to do in real estate (which is buy and hold to rent out and build wealth/generate passive income in positive cash flow. But I gotta start somewhere and wholesale seems to be my only option to build capital).

Thanks for your read here and helping me on this and I am looking forward to your advice/help.

~Janelle

[Dan Mahoney]

In the City of Atlanta basic code violation information is available online.  Google "accela atlanta" and go to the first page that comes up in the search results.  Once in Accela, click on "code enforcement" and then enter the address.  Here is a tip - you can just enter the street name and get all the code violations for that street.

If you are not looking in City of Atlanta, I'm less familiar with the implications of code violations.  I don't think it is ever "too late" to contact an owner, but you will find that many dilapidated houses face a situation where the unpaid property taxes exceed the value of the property, making it essentially impossible to sell.  In those cases the owner's incentive is to let the property rot.  The county may try to auction it off for unpaid taxes, but unlike a bank, the tax commissioner cannot take a haircut on what is owed, so if the unpaid taxes exceed the value, nobody will make the minimum bid on the courthouse steps and it reverts back to the owner.  This wrinkle of the Georgia property tax system is a major cause of sustained blight in the Atlanta area.

It sounds like you are pretty adept at online research of properties.  If you look up the unpaid taxes online (in Fulton County, it's www.fultoncountytaxes.org) this will save you from wasting your time on properties that are hopelessly upside down.