Reading, PA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Under the adopted International Property Maintenance Code, a Reading property can be declared blighted if it's a public nuisance, an attractive nuisance to children, unfit for human habitation, a fire hazard, stripped of utilities, tax-delinquent for two years, abandoned, or meets three or more listed hazard conditions such as unsafe access-ways or code violations posing an immediate threat. Once the code official determines a property is blighted or a public nuisance, the City serves the owner notice and an order to eliminate the conditions; failure can lead to condemnation, and the City records a Declaration of Blight or Public Nuisance with the Berks County Recorder of Deeds, attached to the property's deed as notice to future buyers.