These 7 municipalities are preparing public nuisance auctions

What's happening? At least seven municipalities, Aguas Buenas, Camuy, Guayanilla, Juana Díaz, Patillas, Utuado and Vega Alta, confirmed they are preparing to auction properties declared public nuisances, following the model that San Lorenzo introduced in March, but with their own specifications and priorities.

• Aguas Buenas could hold its first auction as soon as August or September, while Juana Díaz will do the same in September. Other municipalities are still in the process of developing their ordinances and are in the early steps of what is a lengthy process.

Why it matters. Although the Código Municipal (Law 107-2020) establishes in general terms the steps to follow to declare, address, expropriate and auction public nuisances, each municipality must create its own ordinance and regulations, according to its mayor's public policy and the particular circumstances of its town.

Help for municipalities. The Federación de Alcaldes is preparing draft municipal ordinances and regulations to serve as a starting point for municipalities that do not yet have a public nuisance program underway, something it is doing at the request of the mayor of Naranjito. This would take into account Law 96-2026 and Law 114-2024, which amend the Código Municipal to further streamline the nuisance declaration processes and were driven in part by the mayors themselves.

• "We are working on it… They will be provided with a draft ordinance along with a draft regulation aligned with the new laws," said the president of the Federación de Alcaldes and mayor of Camuy, Gabriel Hernández, in response to questions from Platea.

🔎 Zoom in: How each municipality is approaching it

After speaking with the mayors of each of these municipalities at the Federación de Alcaldes meeting and at the Isabela auction, both held in June, we summarize each municipality's plans.

Aguas Buenas: In August or September

The mayor of Aguas Buenas, Karina Nieves, said her municipality is preparing to hold its first auction "in August or September" and it will be divided into two sessions: in the morning, for people seeking their first home; in the afternoon, if properties remain available, the auction will be open to the general public.

The plan is to follow the San Lorenzo model and auction the first eight properties that have a clean title in the municipality's name, after the legal expropriation process.

Priority at auction. "The morning session will be for people who do not have a home, for whom it would be their first residence. Because, as the mayor (of San Lorenzo) said, each one does it their own way," said Nieves.

🔢 By the numbers. At least 300 properties have been identified as potential public nuisances in Aguas Buenas. Of these, 10 have been officially declared and two are in the process of being subdivided. Of the 10, eight are the ones that will be auctioned, the mayor said.

Juana Díaz: In September

After attending the first public nuisance auction in Isabela as an observer, the municipal administrator of Juana Díaz, Juan Carlos Figueroa Vázquez, told Platea that "the first auction is planned for around September." It would put up for auction at least eight already-expropriated properties with a clean title in the municipality's name.

Priority at auction. The municipal administrator said the idea is for the auction to operate "under the affordable housing model," which is the one Isabela introduced in June and gives priority to low- and moderate-income residents of the town who are interested in acquiring their first property for housing.

• "We are also going to set aside some properties, they will be the minority, but there will be some properties that do not necessarily have to be tied to the income requirement," the official added. This would allow participation by "young professional families" who sometimes do not qualify by income for other types of programs, and Puerto Ricans living abroad who wish to return.

How it would work. As in Isabela and San Lorenzo, they will hold a pre-auction, a public meeting to explain the process and participation requirements. After that, eligible participants would be pre-qualified based on income and residency.

• Properties would be sold "as is," so new owners will be responsible for bringing them out of public nuisance status.

🔢 By the numbers. An estimated 1,000-plus properties in Juana Díaz meet the conditions for public nuisance status. Of those, "we have 307 cases already inventoried" and notices are nearly ready to go out "with around 200 declarations." Eight cases have already completed the legal expropriation process.

Camuy: parking will be the priority

The mayor of Camuy explained that, like other municipalities, they began evaluating public nuisances in the historic downtown, and the initial focus is to demolish expropriated properties and convert them into parking, one of the greatest needs in his town.

The first phase concentrated on the barrios Pueblo, Pueblillo and Puente. At least 40 properties could be declared nuisances soon, but the municipality is still working on its regulations and ordinance, so auctions could be months away.

Auction priority. "We are going to give priority to people who are homeless and are residents of Camuy," Hernández said.

🔢 By the numbers. The mayor estimates there are more than 500 possible public nuisances in Camuy, 40 of which are at an advanced stage of declaration.

Guayanilla: housing for earthquake survivors

Auction priority. The mayor of Guayanilla, Raúl Rivera Rodríguez, explained that the municipality's handling of public nuisances will focus on providing housing to people who lost their homes in the 2020 earthquakes, as well as those who hold vouchers through the federal Section 8 program and older adults.

• "Almost 50% of our population is already over 60 years old… We hope to give them a home, a dignified space so that our communities have safe places," Rivera Rodríguez said after taking part in the Federación de Alcaldes workshop.

• His program would give priority to residents of the region: Guayanilla, Yauco, Guánica and Peñuelas, the towns most affected by the earthquakes.

🔢 By the numbers. "We have over 1,000 spaces already properly identified" in Guayanilla that could be declared public nuisances, the mayor said. Of those, at least 20 could be officially declared in the coming weeks.

Patillas: focus on the historic downtown

Patillas has been in the process for years: it went through a failed contract with Universal Properties Realty Government Services, a private company that managed public nuisances for about 20 municipalities, and now works with Centro para la Reconstrucción del Hábitat (CRH), a nonprofit focused on eliminating property abandonment that advises mayors and other organizations.

Auction priority. "First, we are going to work on the urban area," said the mayor of Patillas, Maritza Sánchez. That area has abandoned properties within usufructs, meaning spaces that belong to the government or the municipality but are used by residents who sometimes do not make repairs out of fear they will never receive a title to the property.

• "We have identified property owners who still hold the usufruct at the municipal level, and we have reached agreements with them and completed the sale (so they have the property title), finally achieving that change, that structure, so they can improve it," the mayor said.

🔢 By the numbers. Patillas has identified at least 100 properties in the historic downtown that could be declared public nuisances.

Utuado: first home for young people

Priority. Utuado Mayor Jorge Pérez Heredia explained that, in the first instance, his priority in public-nuisance auctions will be "to give young people the opportunity to have their first home" so "they don't leave our town."

• "If we move to a second phase, it will be people from Utuado who want to invest. And in the third case, those who want to buy, investors who want to acquire," he added.

🔢 By the numbers. About 3,200 properties could be considered a public nuisance in Utuado, the mayor said. Of these, 120 are in the process of being posted to begin the formal declaration process.

Vega Alta: economic development and affordable housing

Vega Alta is another municipality that, since 2023, has been working with the CRH on identifying and declaring public nuisances.

Priority. Vega Alta Mayor María Vega Pagán said that in the historic downtown her focus will be on identifying commercial spaces that can serve economic development and striking a balance with potential residences, which would be used to relocate people with vouchers from the federal Section 8 program who cannot find housing, or to give a first property to those living in public housing.

• "But we also have a usufruct phase in the historic downtown that, fortunately, does belong to the municipality; the lots are already subdivided, and we are going to copy a modular-home model and then look to sell them to our Vega Alta residents," she explained.

🔢 By the numbers. There are about 3,000 vacant spaces in Vega Alta, many of which could be considered a nuisance.

• "We have identified 200 residences (that could be declared a nuisance); 100 of them went through the entire process, leaving 45 currently in the process of taking the first 45 to court (to expropriate them) in order to carry out the public auction process," the mayor said.

This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).