Ontario, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing agency
- Code Enforcement Director
- Hearing request window
- 10 days after Notice of Violation
- Repeat violation penalty
- Treble abatement costs
- Cost recovery
- Lien or special assessment on property
- Emergency notice deadline
- 10 business days after abatement
Summary
Ontario's Code Enforcement Director treats abandoned, partially destroyed, or substantially deteriorated buildings as a public nuisance under Municipal Code Chapter 22. Owners get a Notice of Violation and an abatement deadline; unresolved hazards can be summarily abated, with costs recovered by lien or special assessment against the property.
(b) Buildings which are abandoned, partially destroyed or permitted to remain unreasonably in a state of partial construction; ... (e) Broken windows constituting a hazardous condition, or inviting trespassers and malicious mischief, or constituting a condition tending to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties; ... (t) The maintenance of any structure in a state of substantial deterioration, such as peeling paint on a facade, broken windows, roofs in disrepair, damaged porches, broken steps, or other such deterioration or disrepair not otherwise constituting a violation, and which is visible from a public right-of-way or neighboring properties, where such condition would have a tendency to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties;
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-32: Current through Ordinance 3338, passed 7-21-2026).
Full Breakdown
Ontario Municipal Code Sec. 02 declares buildings that are "abandoned, partially destroyed or permitted to remain unreasonably in a state of partial construction" (subsection (b)) a public nuisance, along with broken windows that create a hazard or invite trespassing (subsection (e)) and any structure showing "substantial deterioration, such as peeling paint on a facade, broken windows, roofs in disrepair, damaged porches, broken steps" visible from the right-of-way (subsection (t)). The Code Enforcement Director, or a designee, investigates and serves a Notice of Violation under Sec.
04 listing the conditions and setting a reasonable abatement deadline. The owner may request a hearing within 10 days (Sec. 05); if the Director confirms the nuisance and the owner still fails to abate, the City may rehabilitate, demolish, or repair the structure itself and bill the owner (Sec. 03). Costs, including inspection and attorneys' fees, become a personal obligation collectible by a lien recorded with the San Bernardino County Recorder's Office under Cal. Gov. Code Sec. 1, or as a special assessment under Sec.
5 (Sec. 07). Where a building poses an imminent hazard, Sec. 10 lets an enforcement official summarily abate it without waiting for the hearing process, serving a Notice of Emergency Abatement within 10 business days afterward. A second public-nuisance judgment against the same owner within two years triggers treble abatement costs under Sec. 08(f), unless the condition was abated under Cal. Health & Safety Code Sec. 17980.
Violations & Fines
Unabated nuisance conditions become a lien or special assessment against the property, recorded with the San Bernardino County Recorder's Office, plus the City's inspection costs and attorneys' fees. A second finding of the same owner's responsibility for a public nuisance within a two-year period triggers treble abatement costs under Sec. 5-22.08(f). Imminent hazards may be abated immediately by the City without prior notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a building a nuisance under Ontario's code?
Can the City fix my building and bill me?
What happens on a second violation?
Does the City have to wait for a hearing if a building is dangerous right now?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ontario
California rules heatmap·Compare Ontario to another location·View the California property maintenance overview
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Property Blight in Nearby Cities
How other cities in San Bernardino County handle property blight.