Auburn, AL Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Sec. 15-45 handles abandoned and dilapidated structures by adopting Code of Alabama 1975 §§ 11-40-30 through 11-40-36 wholesale. Under § 11-40-30, the city may move or demolish any building, structure, party wall, or foundation the governing body finds unsafe to the extent of being a public nuisance from any cause. Before that happens, § 11-40-31 requires the "appropriate municipal official" (a building official or someone the mayor designates) to send certified or registered mail to the last known taxpayer of record and any mortgagees, giving them at least 30 days to fix the unsafe condition or demolish the structure themselves, and the notice must also be posted within three feet of the building's entrance.

An owner who disagrees can file a written request for a hearing before the city council within that same window under § 11-40-32(a); the hearing must be held five to 30 days after the request, and if the council still finds the building unsafe, it orders demolition, which the city can carry out itself, by contract, and can sell any salvaged materials. A property owner aggrieved by the council's decision has 10 days to appeal to circuit court by filing notice and a cost bond.

Once demolition is complete, § 11-40-33 has the municipal official report the actual costs to the council, which fixes and assesses those costs, minus any salvage proceeds, as a special assessment against the property; that assessment becomes a lien superior to every other claim except tax liens, recorded with the county probate judge and added directly to the property's ad valorem tax bill for collection.