The Slum Task Forces were formed to deal with blighted properties that attract crime and contribute to the deterioration of communities, severely impacting the quality of life of our citizens. These Task Forces, chaired by the Community Action Bureau (CAB), consist of city and county agencies working together in a proactive, preventative approach to dealing with slum problems. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office helped pass statewide legislation which requires residential property owners who own rental property in Arizona to register their name, address and phone number with the County Assessor's Office in the county in which the property is located. This has proved invaluable in locating out of state owners of slum properties who sometimes don't want to be found. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office also helped pass a tough state criminal abatement law that put the responsibility on property owners to take reasonable steps to deter repeated crime on their properties. Objective criteria are used to determine which properties should be placed on these lists, including number of police calls, and past and present building and health code violations on the properties. The current Glendale Rental Improvement Program and Goodyear Action Team Property Compliance Project lists are at the bottom of this page, as well as a list of properties that have been successfully rehabilitated. Since 1998, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has coordinated the successful rehabilitation of over 50 slum properties. Available for download: Residential Landlord & Tenant Act, Anti-Slum Packet Success Stories 6601 N. 54th Ave. (4 Units)
After being placed on the task force list, the owner decided to completely demolish the property. Now instead of a dilapidated slum, 6601 N. 54th Ave is a clean vacant lot. 3605 W. Osborn (112 Units)
The property changed hands and the new owner worked hard to finish rehabilitating the property. In less than 14 months of working with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office the new owners of the property had fixed every violation of the health and building codes and crime had been reduced significantly 2537 W. Georgia (28 Units)
Property Project List Glendale Rental Inspection Program
Goodyear Action Team Property Compliance Project
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6601 N. 54th Avenue was a four unit property that was added to the Glendale Rental Improvement Program slum list in early 2003. Upon inspection of the four units, the task force found 13 health code violations and 17 building code violations.
The property had leaking and stagnant water, storage rooms full of refuse, water damage and mold. Many of the units had no heating or cooling, no smoke detectors and the walls themselves were deteriorating.
3605 W. Osborn is a 112 unit property that began working with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in September 2000. Residents complained of a litany of disgusting conditions: untreated roach infestations, a green and stagnant pool, management releasing raw sewage into the parking lots, raw sewage coming up from under the carpet in a tenants living room, swarms of flies caused by the property only having one overflowing trash receptacle, mice infestation and raw sewage leaking out of toilets and spreading into the rest of an apartment. The property was also overrun with crime spawning 26 arrests and 136 police reports in the four years before the Maricopa County Attorney's Office began its work. Police responded to a variety of calls including drugs, domestic violence, indecent exposure, burglary, assaults, aggravated assaults, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, kidnapping, robbery, molestation and criminal damage.
The property was inspected and approximately 120 health code violations including roaches, mice, water damage and mold were found. The inspection also uncovered over 800 building code violations including unsecured railings, exposed energized electric wires, broken and missing smoke detectors, no electricity or air conditioning, broken windows and holes in walls, doors and ceilings.
2537 W. Georgia is a 28 unit property that began working with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in September of 2002. In the year prior there had been 27 police reports generated at the property, with 11 arrests. Citizens complained of drug activity, prostitution, assaults, sexual assault and public intoxication taking place on the property. Citizens also complained of a half empty pool with fish living in it as well as overflowing sewage and roach infestation inside the apartments. The entire property was inspected on October 8, 2002. The inspection found 458 building code violations affecting the safety and quality of life of the residents, including electrical, structural and plumbing violations among others. The inspection also found 33 violations of the Maricopa County Health Code, including violations ranging from holes in walls, and water damage to mold and roaches.
The property was purchased by Right Place Properties who worked diligently to fix the problems they inherited from the previous owner. After working with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, the property had no health code violations. The property also remedied every building code violation. The crime also became nearly non-existent on the property. In the last six months of working with MCAO, there were only two police reports generated and one arrest.