Hartford, CT Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Sec. 9-92 states the core rule of Hartford's Anti-Blight and Property-Maintenance Program: "No person, firm, or corporation, including any owner of real property in the City of Hartford, shall cause or allow, any such real property or premises to exist or be created or maintained in a manner that constitutes a blight violation or a property-maintenance violation as defined in this article." Sec. 9-93A defines eight ways a property becomes 'blighted,' including dilapidation shown by two or more property-maintenance violations, conditions posing a serious health or safety danger, attracting documented illegal activity, fire hazards, unauthorized storage of junk or inoperable vehicles, interference with neighboring properties' use and enjoyment, and extended vacancy of 120 days or more. Sec. 9-93B separately lists dozens of specific property-maintenance standards covering grading, fences, weeds and plant growth (capped at one foot), walks and driveways, exterior surfaces, roofs, windows, signage and more; violating any two of them on the same property is itself a blight violation.

The program, adopted by Ord. No. 11-17 in 2017 and amended in 2018, exempts property under an active building permit where repairs are proceeding at a 'reasonably expeditious' pace, and it originally applied only to vacant, unoccupied property during a transition period that ended March 31, 2018; it now reaches all real property citywide. Enforcement runs through the Division of Blight Remediation within the Department of Development Services, headed by the Director of Blight Remediation. Once two or more violations are confirmed, the director serves a written notice of violation and order to correct by certified mail, giving the owner ten calendar days to abate (or, if the owner shows good-faith rehabilitation or demolition plans, a stay of up to 30 days, extendable by 60-day increments from the Blight Review Action Committee). Failure to correct triggers a citation carrying a civil penalty of $150 per day for an occupied property or $250 per day for a vacant one; unpaid penalties accrue 1% daily compounded interest after 45 days and become a lien enforceable like a property-tax lien. Owners may appeal within ten days to a citation hearing officer under Sec. 9-95, and the Blight Review Action Committee delivers a bi-annual status report to the Court of Common Council under Sec. 9-96.