When the city of Allentown, PA decided that they wanted to take a more proactive approach to fight blighted properties, their work began with a proposal to address vacant properties. The thinking being that if they could identify and prevent vacant properties to begin with, they could stem the tide on blighted properties.
Unintended Consequences
What the city Administration and Council didn’t originally foresee were the unintended consequences of the proposal as initially drafted. As drafted, their proposal would have placed any property that remains unoccupied for 90 days or more on a Vacant Property Registry. Properties on the registry would have been required to pay an annual $300 fee, undergo an inspection within 45 days, and automatically be deemed a public nuisance.
The proposal didn’t account for common reasons for properties to sit vacant, including properties listed for sale, deployment of active-duty service members, extended travel by the owner or tenant, medical emergencies, or commercial properties that are marketing to long-term tenants.
Educating and Advocating
The Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS® knew the proposal as-written would have negative impacts and got to work educating their members on the proposal and having productive conversations with the city Administration and Council.
The engagement with the Administration and Council began with pointing out the unintended consequences of the proposal and the negative impact it could have on the local market.
From there, GLVR focused on some of the legal concerns about certain sections of the ordinance. This multi-pronged approach proved effective and the administration and council released an amended draft of the proposal that addressed many of the concerns GLVR had raised.
Lessons Learned
GLVR credits the broad outreach strategy in the days leading up to the vote as the piece of advocacy work that ultimately moved the needle; coupled with productive and respectful dialogue with the City. With that in mind, their Government Affairs Director points to implementing an outreach strategy that includes anyone that might be involved in the legislative process and simultaneously exploring potential legal concerns along with the obvious policy concerns. At its core, GLVR’s advocacy efforts are centered around simply providing information for lawmakers to consider.
Further Reading: https://www.greaterlehighvalleyrealtors.com/news/vacant-property-in-allentown-could-be-considered-a-crime/
https://www.greaterlehighvalleyrealtors.com/app/uploads/2026/07/VacantProperty-Proposed-Amds-1.pdf
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