A month after the City Council approved an ordinance that straps inattentive landlords with the costs of policing their “problem properties,” Boston Police are compiling a list of residences that are the most frequent sites of illegal activity.

According to a memorandum by the city’s newly formed Problem Properties Task Force, “several dozen” houses throughout the city have been identified as having a sufficiently high incidence of crime to be vulnerable to fines. As soon as next week, the task force will begin notifying landlords at one or more of the residences that theirs have been designated “problem properties” and face financial penalties.

Michael Kineavy, the city of Boston’s chief of policy and planning and the chairman of the task force, was unable to say how many properties might be fined, but he hopes most landlords will take corrective measures once they are informed that their properties are on the list.

“Our desire all along was to have people comply,” said Kineavy. “…We’re hoping that what we’re doing on the streets, getting these places cleaned up, will encourage others to comply voluntarily before punitive measures need to be taken.”

The new ordinance, which the City Council passed unanimously on July 13, defines a problem property as the site of at least four criminal complaints in a 12-month period. A property with at least four noise complaints, or four-plus inspection or public health violations also may be cited. The city can, after eight criminal complaints, charge a landlord for any police detail needed to secure a building or levy a $300 fine for every code violation.

Before they actually have to write checks, property owners are invited to meet with police captains in their districts to form crime mitigation plans. In at least one prominent case, collaboration between landlord and law enforcement appears to be working.

When Mayor Thomas Menino held a press conference July 5 at 102 Blue Hill Ave. he made the Roxbury three-decker there a sort of problem property poster child. The house, the subject of 105 police calls since May 2010, was the first identified by the task force, which Menino created by executive order.

That morning, two residents, Thomas and Angela Ganzales, had been arrested and charged with intent to distribute cocaine. A prostitution ring also operated out of the house, police said.

Since then, police have not been called to 102 Blue Hill once, according to District Police Captain John Davin. The property owner, Edward Franco, heeded the task force’s advice and contacted Davin about making the property safer.

Franco, who owns 16 properties throughout the city, sent a representative of his management team to walk the neighborhood with police, in an effort to understand its climate, Davin said. The landlord has erected a fence in front of the house to discourage loitering, installed “no trespassing” signs, and agreed to mount surveillance cameras on the property. According to Davin, Franco reports that the tenants on all three floors, included the Ganzaleses, are moving out.

Davin noted that his officers continue to patrol the neighborhood regularly and said there are other houses in the area which meet problem property criteria. But the captain said he was pleased by Franco’s cooperation, adding that it saved the landlord from paying a bill to the city.

“If they’re willing to come and walk the neighborhood with us, what more can we ask for?” Davin said.
The owner of a nearby house at 576 Blue Hill, a notorious property which Kineavy said was also a candidate for the July 5 press conference, noted the action against his neighbor, reached out to police, and began making safety improvements unprompted, according to the chairman.

Similar cooperation is needed to make the problem property ordinance work citywide, according to Councillor Maureen Feeney, whose Committee on Government Operations held a hearing about the legislation one week before it passed.

Feeney said she plans to sit down next week with members of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board to collect their thoughts. It is important, she said, that landlords not feel as if the city is cracking down on them, while letting troublesome tenants get off easy.

“Not every problem property is the fault of the landlord,” Feeney said. “Some of them are the fault of the tenants. … We want the landlords to buy into this.”

The ordinance codified last month does allow the city to fine a tenant, rather than a landlord, for creating a “public nuisance.” It also instructs Kineavy to exercise discretion before assigning the problem property label, compelling him to “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.”

The decision to charge for police detail belongs to Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis; a landlord has the right to appeal the bill to a three-member panel, appointed by the mayor. If a property owner makes a “good-faith” effort to evict an unruly tenant, the city must wait to collect the charges until Boston Housing Court renders a verdict, and drop the lien if the landlord wins.

Menino and the City Council included these provisions to protect property owners whose difficulties are not the result of negligence. Feeney said her office may reach out to Housing Court judges to find out what “tools” honest landlords would need to expedite evictions.

“We need to make sure we’re not breaking existing fair housing laws,” Feeney said, “but if it’s designated a problem property, could that possibly be a trigger for a different process in Housing Court?”