§ 6-162. Notice of hearing.

(a)

When the director of code compliance has probable cause to believe a building or structure to be dangerous, the code compliance director shall order a public hearing before the BSB and make a diligent effort to discover and notify in writing the owner and each lienholder or mortgagee, before the public hearing. The director must make a reasonable search of the instruments on file in the office of the county clerk to find the owner. Reliance on the real property lien and tax records of Bexar County, Texas, shall be sufficient to identify mortgagees and lienholders.

(b)

The pre-hearing notice to the owner shall be:

(1)

Personally to the owner in writing; or

(2)

By letter addressed to the owner at the owner's post office address;

(3)

If personal service cannot be obtained or the owner's post office address is unknown:

a.

By publication at least twice within ten (10) consecutive days; and

b.

By posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation relates.

(c)

The pre-hearing notice to lienholders/mortgagees shall be directed to them at addresses provided by the real property tax records of Bexar County, Texas, and deposit of the notice with the United States Postal Service, first class, shall be deemed sufficient for delivery.

(d)

The notice shall state:

(1)

The observations of the code compliance director:

• Identifying conditions enumerated above in section 6-156 of alleged dilapidation, substandard conditions, unfitness for human habitation, and hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare; or

• In the alternative, regardless of structural condition, a building or structure is unoccupied by its owners, lessees, or other invitees and unsecured to the extent it could be, or has been, entered by vagrants or other uninvited persons as a place of harborage or could be entered or used by children, and that the building has been subject to repeated criminal enforcement efforts; and

(2)

Identification of the building and the property upon which the building is located. (This identification is not required to be a legal description.); and

(3)

A statement that the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee shall be required at the hearing to present proof of the scope of any work that may be required to comply with this article and the time it will reasonably take to perform the work; and

(4)

A statement that the lienholder/mortgagee, as well as the owner, is entitled to attend the hearing and shall be afforded opportunity to comment.

(e)

If the city files a notice in the official public records of real property for Bexar County, Texas, pertaining to the hearing, as set forth above, the notice shall bind all subsequent holders of interest in the property, according to state law.

(f)

The city is not required to furnish any further notice to a mortgagee or lienholder, other than a copy of the building standards board's order, when the city has followed the notice requirements set forth here.

(g)

The order, in regard to mortgagees and lienholders, shall notify them, as set forth below at section 6-162, of the owner's obligations and shall allow an additional reasonable time for the mortgagee/lienholder to perform the order if the owner fails to do so.

(Ord. No. 85915, § 2, 4-17-97; Ord. No. 2011-05-05-0354, § 5, 5-5-11)