Vermilion Parish, LA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 26 gives the Police Jury a tool for abandoned and uninhabitable houses, tied to the state blighted property law. Section 26-100 defines a blighted housing property to include a residential housing property that has not been legally occupied for 18 months and has been determined to be a public nuisance by the parish, or one declared below minimum habitability standards and unfit for human habitation. Minimum habitability standards mean the HUD minimum property standards in 24 CFR 200.929(b), particularly HUD 4910.1. The article covers a residential housing property, meaning a building used as a home or place of dwelling.

A public officer of the Police Jury inventories properties and keeps a blighted housing property list (§ 26-101). Within 30 days of completing the list, the officer sends notice to each owner of record by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by regular mail, and publishes the list in the official journal. An owner or secured party can appeal to the hearing officer within 60 days of receiving the certified notice, or within 90 days of publication or posting if the notice was undeliverable. The hearing officer schedules a hearing within 30 days of the appeal request and decides within 30 days of the hearing. A further appeal goes to court within 30 days of the mailed decision. A property is kept off the list if the owner is rehabilitating it in a timely manner, shown by building permits and diligent pursuit of the permitted work.

Section 26-102 is the demolition provision. Once a statement from a professionally qualified person says the property cannot be rehabilitated in a cost-effective manner, the Police Jury can demolish or remove it, or contract a third party to do so, consistent with LSA-R.S. 33:4761 and following. Cost-effective means rehabilitation costs less than 50 percent of replacement costs, unless the property has historic significance. The Police Jury weighs location, surrounding lands, proximity to neighbors, cost of demolition, cost of enforcing its privilege and lien, the value of the lot and the likelihood of recovering public funds. Section 26-102 was amended on 8-21-2024.