Louisville Metro Government Code Liens Analysis

Introduction

Louisville Metro Government (LMG) engaged the Center for Community Progress to review its inventory of outstanding code liens and recommend potential reforms to policies, practices, or programs that support neighborhood stabilization and revitalization. Code liens in Louisville result when a property owner fails to: (1) correct violations of LMG’s property maintenance and housing codes, and (2) pay LMG any resulting fines or costs incurred by LMG to remediate the violations.  

Over the last several months, Community Progress analyzed LMG data related to code liens, reviewed state and local laws and policies guiding code lien enforcement, and held regular calls with leadership and staff from LMG’s Offices of Housing and Community Development (OHCD), Codes and Regulations (OCR), and Management and Budget (OMB) to better understand existing practices.  

This memorandum summarizes our findings and recommendations to help LMG strategically coordinate code lien enforcement in support of its broader goals for neighborhood stabilization, revitalization, and community development. It begins with a primer on code liens and the unique leverage they provide to help LMG improve its neighborhoods. Then follows an overview of LMG’s code lien portfolio. It concludes with our key findings and recommendations.  

Appendix A lists project participants and Appendix B summarizes the general code enforcement process and OMB collection process Community Progress conducted in summer 2022. 

These findings and recommendations reflect our independent analysis and are subject to the review and guidance of LMG’s attorneys and other experts in this field. We hope our insights help LMG create a stronger framework to better leverage its inventory of code liens and we look forward to continuing to support these efforts.  

Download the full memo »