NC South Carolina Times

The Town of Cheraw is continuing efforts to stabilize and clean up neighborhoods by launching a demolition assistance program.  The program serves as a cost share program to help remove dilapidated housing in Cheraw’s neighborhoods.  The program is completely voluntary, and participants would retain ownership of their property after the demolition work is completed.

There would be several conditions of participating in the program.

• The program only applies to residential properties.
• The property owner(s) must own the property outright without a mortgage or lien on the home.
• All taxes must be paid on the property and up to date.
• The home must be deemed uninhabitable or unsafe by the Town of Cheraw’s Code Department.
• Property owners must have owned the home for at least 2 years.
• Property owners must provide a signed Affidavit of Release giving the right to the Town of Cheraw to demolish the property.
• Property owners will be expected to maintain the vacant lot after demolition is complete.

Property owners would be required to pay $500 toward the cost of demolition if the price of demolition is less than $5,000.  Property would be expected to pay $1,000 if the price of demolition exceeds $5,000.  The Town of Cheraw would obtain competitive quotes and handle any permitting required for demolition.

“Our goal is to keep property on the tax roll and in the hands of families” said Rob Wolfe, Cheraw’s Assistant Town Administrator.  “There is a condemnation process for dilapidated homes, but it can be costly and many times the Town ends up paying the whole bill and becomes responsible for maintaining the property if it ends up as forfeited land or going to tax sale year after year.  Long term this will help stabilize property values, prevent crime, and remove fire hazards in neighborhoods by removing blighted homes while saving money in the long term” Rob added. 

The program will begin in July of this year and is modeled after similar programs in neighboring communities.

_{Source: https://www.cheraw.com/news_detail_T30_R519.php}