Riverside County, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Ordinance 725 is the county's primary property-nuisance code. It covers accumulations of trash, abandoned appliances, dismantled or inoperative vehicles not stored inside a garage or behind a six-foot screened fence, weeds over 18 inches creating a fire hazard, stagnant water breeding mosquitoes, and buildings with broken windows, peeling paint, or collapsed structural members. A complaint triggers a site inspection; the first notice gives the owner a defined abatement period (often 14 days) to voluntarily correct. If the owner does not comply the county may perform a summary abatement, especially for fire-hazard vegetation during weed-abatement season (typically May through October) under Ordinance 695, and bill the owner with the cost becoming a tax lien. Administrative fines begin at 100 dollars for the first citation, escalate to 200 dollars and 500 dollars per day for continuing violations, and criminal misdemeanor prosecution is available for chronic offenders. Vacant or foreclosed properties also fall under county registration requirements enforced through the Treasurer-Tax Collector.