Property Maintenance
Trash bin storage, snow removal, garage sales, property blight, and vacant lot maintenance rules.
Every maintenance code, whether an adopted International Property Maintenance Code or a homegrown nuisance chapter, defines the same floor: structures secure and sound, yards free of trash and overgrowth, no junk vehicles, nothing that harbors rats.
What distinguishes one city from another is the machinery. Notice, deadline, abatement, lien: the sequence is universal, but the day counts, the appeal window, and the abatement fees vary enough to matter. Absent owners lose by default, because every step in the sequence runs on a mailed letter.
All 50 States: Property Maintenance at the State Level
Each tile shows the strongest state-level rule for that state. Click a state to see its full statewide rules and how local cities are constrained.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
What's Covered
Property Blight
Standards for property appearance including peeling paint, broken windows, junk accumulation, and other conditions the city considers blight.
Vacant Lot Maintenance
Requirements for maintaining vacant or undeveloped land, including mowing, fencing, and preventing dumping and trespassing.
Snow & Sidewalk Clearing
Your responsibility to clear snow and ice from sidewalks next to your property, including deadlines after a snowfall and penalties for not clearing.