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Importance to Equitable Development
Historic Use of Code Enforcement
Most community builders
seek to acquire buildings that can be used in community revitalization efforts.
Community developers generally find an insufficient supply of affordable
housing stock, or stock that is unsafe and uninhabitable. To increase
the stock of revitalized and affordable units, many affordable housing developers
try to acquire vacant properties that are government-owned or available
through government programs. Others seek charitable funds to permit the
purchase of buildings on the private market. These strategies, however,
do not necessarily eliminate blight and substandard housing
.
The failure of some owners to maintain their buildings can result in deteriorated structures where tenants remain, lacking other options.
When housing code enforcement is used to address these conditions, it can play a role in gentrification. When local jurisdictions step in to require that landlords address substandard conditions, their actions can cause wholesale eviction of current tenants while rehabilitation takes place, or can result in improvement and rent increases beyond the means of current residents.
Housing code enforcement can also be triggered to transfer building ownership from an exploitative owner to a responsible nonprofit developer, tenant association, or community group - both improving the neighborhood and increasing the stock of quality affordable housing.
Most local governments have use housing codes to ensure safe and habitable affordable housing within their jurisdictions. Only recently has housing code enforcement been invoked by tenants and community organizations to increase tenant and community ownership of multi-family dwellings.
The history of local government's
enforcement of its housing codes is 
critical
to understanding the dangers inherent in its use in particular jurisdictions.
In many cities, the pattern of housing code enforcement is familiar: years
of under-enforcement of housing codes in low-income and minority communities
result in unsafe buildings, followed by aggressive enforcement when new
investments are made in those communities. Community residents often
correlate the arrival of the government inspectors with the approach of
for-profit developers and the economic forces that will drive them out.
A jurisdiction's current code enforcement efforts can guide community response. If the city is in the under-enforcement period, the community may be able to use enforcement to encourage tenant-beneficial repairs. If the city is overenforcing, the community may have to work to redirect the city's goals with a focus on community revitalization.
The tool wields powerful
coercive mechanisms and delivers powerful partners. 
Communities have
ways of getting negligent property owners to the negotiating table.
Housing code enforcement can include criminal prosecution. Such a threat
can compel action, and leverage benefits for the community.
Housing code enforcement can benefit the community when:
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