Portland City Council considers foreclosure of more blighted properties

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — On Oct. 9, the Portland City Council discussed the latest set of abandoned and/or blighted properties that it plans to foreclose upon for years of neglect and thousands of dollars in unpaid liens, the city says.

Portland Deputy Administrator of Budget and Finance Jonas Biery told city commissioners that the owners of the affected properties had numerous attempts to correct the issues before the foreclosure stage.

“These properties have been identified as causing significant problems for neighbors and are the subject of multiple and frequent police calls and numerous enforcement activities,” Biery said.

During the meeting, Mayor Ted Wheeler emphasized that seizure of private property is a laborious process, which requires government bodies to give property owners numerous chances to set things right.

“A lot of these properties are extremely problematic,” Wheeler said. “They have become a dangerous nuisance to their neighbors. In many cases, their neighbors have complained directly to the owners and to the city for years. And only after they make it on to this list, do we finally hear from the property owners and then they come in and tell us about their sincere intentions to fix things up. And I will tell you, after eight years on this council, maybe I’m getting a little bit cynical about that.”

Portland city council will take a final vote on the proposed foreclosures next week. If approved, the ordinances will direct the city treasurer to start the foreclosure sale process for each of the properties. The property owners will have a 90-day redemption period in which they can pay off the liens prior to the sale of each property.

The following Portland properties face foreclosure next week:

• 8040 SE Knight St.

• 3623 S Corbett Ave.

• 11257 NE Sandy Blvd.

• 1042-1048 SE 151st Ave.

• 2336 SE 130th Ave.

• 6329 SE 86th Ave.

• 1541 SW Market St.

• 6627 SE Woodstock Blvd.

Past coverage:

• Portland City Council moves to foreclose abandoned property over safety concerns
• City Council okays foreclosure of 6 ‘nuisance’ properties in Portland
• Portland officials set foreclosure sale date for former Gordon’s Fireplace shop
• Portland City Council votes to foreclosure on 7 ‘blighted’ properties
• City of Portland forecloses on Gordon’s Fireplace building, other ‘nuisance’ properties