Fed up with the blighting effect that foreclosed properties are having on neighborhoods, Atlanta officials have started issuing tickets to real estate agents for code violations on dilapidated structures.
The practice has steamed Atlanta real estate agents, such as Rick Hale—no relation to Ralph Waldo Emerson—who told the Atlanta Journal - Constitution, "This is not cool."
From the Journal-Constitution
Hale said when he got the citations—eight of them, one for each unit in the building—he thought it was a mistake or a joke. He said he had the building professionally boarded, only to see miscreants break in over and over.
Hale said he was advised to plead no contest because that would quickly resolve the dispute and let him get back to work.
He was shocked when the city court socked him with $3,311 in fines last month.
The real estate professionals argue that they are being unfairly targeted and say they should, in fact, be praised for their work to connect run-down properties with new owners who will clean them up, the Journal - Constitution reported.
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Mike of GA 5:00PM July 11, 2008