Revere, MA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

05, most recently amended by City Ordinance 25-143 in June 2025, defines a "vacant building" as any commercial building where no one lawfully conducts a licensed business, any residential building where no one lawfully resides, or a mixed-use building meeting neither test, and separately deems a building vacant if more than half of its exterior windows and doors are broken, boarded or unlocked, regardless of occupancy. 030 gives an owner 30 days from the date a building becomes vacant to register it with the Department of Municipal Inspections, providing owner contact information, the building's address and map-block-parcel number, and, if no owner has a Massachusetts address, a local agent authorized to accept service of process.

040 sets an annual registration fee due each November 15, scaled to how long the building has been vacant as of that date: for residential buildings, $500 under one year, $1,000 for one to two years, $2,000 for two to three years and $3,000 for three years or more; for commercial buildings the tiers are $1,500, $3,000, $6,000 and $9,000 at the same duration breakpoints. An unpaid fee becomes a lien on the property under Chapter 497 of the Acts of 1991. An owner may appeal a fee assessment to the Revere Board of Health within 15 calendar days of the billing statement by filing a written appeal with a nonrefundable $50 appeal fee, limited to whether the building is vacant and for how long, with payment stayed pending the outcome. 12.