Atacking blight

In response to neighborhood blight brought on by the explosion in foreclosures, the Las Vegas City Council this week passed an ordinance that requires the owner of a vacant property to maintain it or face fines and even jail time.

Don't expect it to have any real effect.

The mortgages on many of these properties have been chopped up and purchased by numerous other parties. Many are even in the hands of quasi-governmental agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Simply identifying who owns what could require a small army of new bureaucrats, given the high number of vacant homes in the area.

And what about the houses sitting empty that haven't even been foreclosed yet? Won't this discourage banks from moving forward?

This ordinance passed with the best of intentions. But the best way to fight the blight isn't to impose more penalties, it's to encourage private investors to take these homes off the market and let the housing crisis bottom out.