Virginia Code 15.2-1127: Vacant building registration; civil penalty.
Any county, city, or town, by ordinance, may require the owner or owners of buildings that have been vacant for a continuous period of 12 months or more and (i) that meet the definition of “derelict building” under § 15.2-907.1, (ii) that meet the definition of “criminal blight” under § 15.2-907, or (iii) in which a locality has determined a person is living without the authority of the owner or owners to register such buildings on an annual basis and may impose an annual registration fee not to exceed $100 to defray the cost of processing such registration. The registration of buildings shall be on forms designated by the locality and filed with the agency designated by the locality. Failure to register shall be a $200 civil penalty; however, failure to register in conservation and rehabilitation districts designated by the governing body, or in other areas designated as blighted pursuant to § 36-49.1:1, shall be punishable by a civil penalty not exceeding $400. Notice shall be mailed to the owner or owners, at the address to which property tax notices are sent, at least 30 days prior to the assessment of the civil penalty.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 15.2-1127
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
- Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July one, nineteen hundred seventy-one, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
1993, c. 829, § 15.1-29.24; 1997, c. 587; 1999, c. 250; 2006, c. 299; 2013, cc. 253, 355, 405; 2020, c. 145; 2024, cc. 613, 616.