Vacant Property Registration

Many U.S. cities and counties require the owner of a vacant building to register it. Registering usually means giving the city a name and phone number for someone responsible, often paying a fee, and then keeping the building maintained and secured to a set standard. Researchers at Georgia Tech counted more than 550 local registration ordinances as of 2012, up from fewer than 20 in 2000. The rules differ from one city to the next, so this guide explains how they usually work and gives examples, not a complete list.

How registration rules work

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta describes three kinds of ordinance:

• Vacancy ordinances apply to any building that has been empty for a set time, whatever the reason.
• Foreclosure ordinances apply when a lender starts foreclosure, and usually make the lender register.
• Hybrid ordinances apply in either case.

Of the 538 ordinances the Georgia Tech researchers coded in detail, 46% were vacancy ordinances, 42% were hybrids and 11% covered foreclosures only. Vacancy and hybrid ordinances are the kinds that reach owners who are not in foreclosure.

City examples

These come from each city’s own published pages. Fees and rules change, so check the current page before you rely on any figure.

• Cincinnati, Ohio: a new registration program took effect in 2026 for buildings vacant 180 days or more. The owner registers within 30 days, names a local agent within 100 miles, carries liability insurance ($300,000 for buildings of up to four units), and keeps openings weathertight and secured. Certificates last six months, and registered buildings are inspected yearly.
• Chicago, Illinois: owners register a vacant building within 30 days; a house or residential building of fewer than 10 units counts once no one lives there. The fee is $30 if registered on time and $100 after a citation, renewed every six months. The owner must secure all openings, carry liability insurance and post a sign with the owner’s or agent’s contact information.
• Baltimore, Maryland: the owner files a registration within 10 days of a property becoming vacant and renews it each year. The fee is $100 for a residential structure.
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: owners of an unoccupied residential property need a vacant residential property license, $202 a year. A property under renovation does not need one.
• Minneapolis, Minnesota: registration is triggered by conditions such as condemnation, being unoccupied and unsecured for five days, or being secured by other than standard means for 30 days. The annual fee is $7,228.70.
• Detroit, Michigan: owners register vacant property and pay for an inspection ($223 for the exterior inspection of a single-family house; commercial buildings also need an interior inspection) to get a certificate of compliance. Failing to register carries a fine of $250 to $500.
• Phoenix, Arizona: the registry covers non-residential buildings, apartment properties of 50 or more units that are fully unoccupied, and large vacant lots, after 30 days; single-family homes are not included. Registration is free, and the owner or agent must be reachable within 30 minutes of an official’s request.
• Louisville, Kentucky: owners of vacant property must maintain it, and violations can bring civil fines and liens.

What most ordinances ask for

• A local contact or agent who can respond, sometimes within a set distance or time.
• A posted sign with that contact’s name and phone number, in some cities. Others, such as Cincinnati’s lender registry, forbid vacancy signs.
• All doors and windows kept closed, locked and secured against entry.
• Grass, trash, snow and the exterior kept up.
• Proof of liability insurance, in some cities.
• Inspections, in some cities, sometimes for a fee.

Rules for how doors must be secured

Some cities spell out how openings must be closed, and several restrict plywood:

• Chicago: the city’s securing rules require at least one entrance with a solid-core wood or steel door, securely locked so only authorized people can get in. Plywood is allowed for the first six months unless the Department of Buildings approves longer, and is primarily through-bolted.
• Detroit: the city’s standards for vacant buildings call for secure doors, glazed windows or commercial steel panels, generally bar plywood, and require at least one exterior entrance with a locked door that only authorized people can open.
• Ohio: state law bars using plywood to secure a property that a court has found vacant and abandoned in a foreclosure.
• Cincinnati: the 2026 rules call for broken openings to be covered with at least half-inch CDX plywood.

Rules point in different directions from city to city, so read your own city’s standard before choosing how to secure a door.

How to find your city’s rules

1. Search your city or county name with “vacant property registration” or “vacant building registration”.
2. Check the code enforcement, building, or neighborhood services department’s website.
3. Look up the ordinance in your city’s online municipal code, often hosted on Municode or a similar site.
4. Call code enforcement and ask whether a registry applies to your property, and how openings must be secured.