Landers: City Neighborhood Nuisance Laws Must Be Enforced Fairly and Quickly

Mayoral candidate Jody Landers said in an email on Thursday that Baltimore City must enforce so-called Neighborhood Nuisance laws "fairly and expeditiously".  

Landers was commenting on a blog that appeared on thewebsite about a group of community association members dubbed the “Congress of Community Associations” and their concern that the city does not aggressively enforce the nuisance abatement program.

Landers said that communities rely on the city to enforce the nuisance abatement laws, but that the process can "drag on and on".  

Neighborhood Nuisance laws allow the city to evict a criminal from a property that is a known location for drug dealing or other illegal activities. 

Landers said that he believes the city does have an obligation to contact an owner of a property and detail exactly what must be done in order to abate the nuisance.  Often time owners are not aware of the problems, Landers said.

But "beyond the notification" the city must act to ensure the "nuisance is completely abated," Landers said. 

Landers said that neighborhoods should document the handling of nuisance cases and hold the enforcement division accountable for following through. 

"One nuisance house can negatively impact the entire neighborhood," Landers said. 

Landers was the only mayoral candidate or potential candidate to respond to an email requesting their views on the  blog.