Novi, MI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Section 7-46 makes it unlawful for any owner or agent to keep or maintain a dangerous building, and Section 7-47 spells out twelve specific defects that qualify, from structural members out of plumb by more than a third of the building's base, to fire or storm damage, to conditions unfit for human habitation or infested with vermin or rats. Once the building department identifies a dangerous building, Section 7-48 requires written notice to every owner, occupant, lessee and mortgagee of record, and the mayor appoints an independent hearing officer, someone with housing expertise such as an engineer, architect or building contractor, who cannot be a building department employee.

Section 7-49 gives that hearing officer up to five days after the hearing to order the building repaired, secured, vacated or demolished, with demolition required if repair would cost more than the building's state equalized value or if the structure is a fire hazard. The owner then gets up to thirty days to comply. If the deadline passes, Section 7-50 lets the city manager carry out the order directly and charge the cost against the property under Section 11.1 of the City Charter, and Section 7-52 turns unpaid abatement costs into a lien or special tax assessment against the land itself. Section 7-55 gives anyone affected by an order twenty days to demand a hearing before the city council.