The Fee Is the Biggest Number on Most Files Here
On a modestly valued house, an annual vacant building registration fee of $7,228.70 is not a line item. It is a meaningful fraction of what the property is worth, and it runs whether or not anybody is doing anything about the building.
Registration is required within 5 days of the building becoming vacant, and a fire-damaged house meets the criteria from several directions: condemned and requiring a code compliance inspection, unoccupied and unsecured for 5 days or more, or carrying multiple code violations for 30 days or more. The full position is on our page covering TISH, vacancy and code compliance.
What Does the Registration Fee Do to What My House Is Worth?
The 90 Day Window Is Worth More Here Than Anywhere
Registration is capped at 2 years with a possible 1 year extension, and beyond it monthly citations start at $250 and double up to $2,000, running to roughly $24,000 a year. A Truth in Housing report is valid for 2 years or one sale, and required repairs may be taken on by the buyer and completed within 90 days of closing.
Because the fee is large relative to the values, the Restoration Agreement route matters more in North Minneapolis than in the higher-value neighbourhoods.
Entering one can hold the annual fee in abeyance, and you must call to schedule within 90 days of the initial registration order or renewal letter. Appointments are set weeks out, so the call comes well before the meeting. A condemned property also needs a code compliance inspection from within the last year.
Should I Look at a Restoration Agreement Before Selling?
We publish no guidance on what a Restoration Agreement should commit to. It is a contract with penalties and deposit provisions attached, and the right scope depends on the building and on what you can realistically fund.
Older Framing, Longer Repair Lists
Most of the housing here predates 1940 and is wood frame. That cuts two ways after a fire, and both matter to the number.
Dimensional lumber can sometimes be repaired in sections where a newer engineered assembly exposed to heat would be replaced whole, which helps. But older houses generate longer required repair lists on a Truth in Housing evaluation, and where the property was condemned instead, bringing it to code compliance on pre-war construction is a larger job than on newer stock.
North Minneapolis in Context
The other area where condemnation is common and the stock is similarly old is covered on our page about a district of older stock and duplexes. Where values are high enough that restoring almost always wins, see our page for the higher-value southwest neighbourhoods.
North Minneapolis Questions
The Fee Is More Than I Can Pay.
Call about a Restoration Agreement immediately if you are within 90 days of the order or renewal letter. After the two year registration cap the alternative is a citation regime running several times higher.
The House Has Been Empty Since the Fire Last Year.
Then an anniversary charge has probably already fallen and another is coming. Check the anniversary date on the City's property information tool, because it tells you exactly how much time you have.
Will You Buy a Registered Vacant Building?
Yes. The registration affects the figure because it affects the carrying cost, but it does not stop us buying and it is common on the properties we look at here.