Initiative Information

Public Nuisance

A public nuisance is an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public, such as conditions

  • dangerous to health,
  • offensive to community moral standards,
  • or that otherwise threaten the general welfare of a neighborhood or the City in general through documented pervasive criminal activity, code violations, or other causes which call for the deployment of any City resource.

Problem Properties

A problem property is any property that has in the preceeding 12 months had 4 or more calls or complaints made against it to the following agencies:

  1. Police Department, for any incident involving any criminal offense;
  2. Air Pollution Control Commision, for sustained complaints for noise; and
  3. Inspectional Services Department or Public Health Commission, for harmful or unsanitary conditions.

Before making a final designation of a property as a Problem Property, the Chair of the Task Force will take into consideration the nature of the complaints, the number of dwelling units at the property, and the nature of the use of said property.

Enforcement

Any property in the City that is found by the Task Force to be a Problem Property will also be considered a public nuisance. Owners will be formally notified by ceritifed mail, while tenants will be notified via an affixed notice of the violation on the front door of the property.

In the event a property is designated as a Problem Property, the property could incur such enforcement as:

  • increased surveillance by the Boston Police Department,
  • expedited health code enforcement proceedings by the Public Health Commission,
  • proceedings for injunctive relief of noise violations by the Air Pollution Control Commission and the Law Department,
  • and/or foreclosure proceedings if such property has delinquent real estate taxes, and
  • increased fines for code violations by the Inspectional Services Department. 

Reports

City Ordinances

Related Departments