San Jose leaders are raising the maximum daily fines for absentee landowners whose properties attract blight and crime — an aggressive signal that one official says makes the city’s penalties some of the highest in the state.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved raising daily penalties from $2,500 to a maximum of $20,000 for each ongoing code violation in which neglected properties become breeding grounds for blight. This includes overgrown vegetation and other fire hazards, homeless encampments and elevated levels of crime and vandalism. Councilmembers also raised the total amount of fines a property owner can accrue from $100,000 to $500,000.
“These increases are designed to ensure that fines are not just the cost of doing business for wealthy absentee property owners, but a real incentive to comply with the law,” Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who championed the proposal with Councilmembers Pamela Campos and Anthony Tordillos, said before the vote. “Our residents should not be forced to carry the cost of someone else’s negligence.”…