A Health and Safety Receivership is an effective legal remedy under certain state laws that facilitates the rehabilitation of substandard properties, which include properties that show problems of hoarding, drug/slum activity, fire or water damage, unpermitted construction or habitation, or properties that have been abandoned. There are many substandard properties across the nation that are clearly neglected and/or vacant with no useful purpose.
These properties are an eyesore to the public and can be a danger to the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community. Health and Safety Receiverships can reduce the number of substandard properties and demonstrates to the community that the city or county is taking steps to rehabilitate problem properties.
Substandard properties have the potential to boost neighborhood criminal activity, create public nuisances and contribute to overall neighborhood decline. To boot, these properties often require costly code and police enforcement. A hoarding property, for instance, might bring an influx of vermin and rodents to the neighborhood. The hoarding conditions may even extend outside of the property covering the entire exterior resulting in disgruntled neighbors. Vacant properties are often used as drug houses or illicit dumping grounds, and many attract squatters and trespassers. Some properties - whether occupied or unoccupied - suffer from years of neglect with no one to keep up with the required maintenance, causing deterioration and hazardous conditions over time. By utilizing the receivership remedy, the Court can eliminate or prevent potential illegal or unsafe activity these types of properties invite.
How Do Health And Safety Receiverships Work?
In a Health and Safety Receivership, the court appoints a neutral third-party Receiver to assume temporary control of a substandard property for the purpose of rehabilitation. The Receiver is tasked with correcting the health and safety hazards and code violations that gave rise to the receivership action, stabilizing the property, and preventing further deterioration.
Beyond facilitating physical improvements, a Receiver may also serve as a coordinating resource—connecting homeowners, when appropriate, to mental health providers, social services, or other supportive resources to help address underlying issues contributing to property neglect. In cases involving abandoned or vacant properties, the Receiver secures the site by boarding windows and doors and, when necessary, installing fencing or retaining security services to prevent unauthorized access and trespassing.
Overall, Health and Safety Receiverships provide a structured, court-supervised pathway to return distressed properties to safe and productive use. Successfully rehabilitated properties reduce public safety risks, support neighborhood stabilization, and promote healthier, more sustainable, and more vibrant communities.
Richardson “Red” Griswold and the Griswold Receivers team is regularly appointed by California courts to act as a Health & Safety Code Receiver for substandard properties, with extensive experience in substandard property rehabilitation. For more information or to discuss remedies for a particular property in your area, please contact us today.
