Oklahoma Has No Blight Receivership: The Receiver Statute Is From 1910 and Never Mentions Repair

Search for an Oklahoma blight receivership and you will find the word receiver in all the right statute books and none of it will help. There is no Oklahoma counterpart to Ohio's R.C. 3767.41, no Act 135, no nuisance receiver with a rehabilitation plan to file. Oklahoma's only receivership statute was carried into the code from the Revised Laws of 1910, and the section that lists what a receiver may do never uses the word repair. What Oklahoma built instead is municipal, and it is narrower than it looks: a city may tear a dilapidated building down, board and secure it, clean and mow around it, and bill its own costs quarterly - but nowhere in the chapter may it fix anything. Those two facts, taken together, decide who your counterparty is on an Oklahoma vacant building.

The Receivership Statute Is From 1910

12 O.S. Section 1551 opens: "A receiver may be appointed by a Judge of the Supreme Court or a district court judge." Then six grounds. The citation line at the foot of the section reads R.L. 1910, Section 4979, amended by Laws 1989, c. 332, Section 1 - one amendment in a century and a bit, and that one added a clause about mortgage instruments.

• In an action by a vendor to vacate a fraudulent purchase, by a creditor to subject property to his claim, or between partners or others jointly owning or interested in any property or fund - where it is shown the property "is in danger of being lost, removed or materially injured"
• In an action by a mortgagee for foreclosure, or in connection with a power-of-sale foreclosure under the Oklahoma Power of Sale Mortgage Foreclosure Act, on three alternative showings: the property is in danger of being lost, removed or materially injured; a condition of the mortgage has not been performed and the property is probably insufficient to discharge the debt; or a condition has not been performed and the mortgage instrument itself provides for the appointment of a receiver
• After judgment, to carry the judgment into effect
• After judgment, to dispose of the property according to the judgment, to preserve it during the pendency of an appeal, or in aid of execution where an execution has been returned unsatisfied or the judgment debtor refuses to apply his property
• Where a corporation has been dissolved, is insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency, or has forfeited its corporate rights
• "In all other cases where receivers have heretofore been appointed by the usages of the courts of equity"

Read the list for who is absent. There is no municipality, no code-enforcement officer, no building official, no neighbouring owner, no tenant, no non-profit. Every route in runs through a money relationship - a creditor, a mortgagee, a co-owner, a judgment, a failing corporation - or through the historical usages of equity, which is an invitation to argue rather than a cause of action. A dangerous building, standing alone, gets nobody into court under Section 1551.

Ground 2(c) is the 1989 addition and the one that matters commercially: a condition of the mortgage has not been performed "and the mortgage instrument provides for the appointment of a receiver." In Oklahoma the receivership clause in the loan documents is doing real statutory work. That is the practical answer to how a receiver ends up on an Oklahoma property at all - not blight, but a contract.

The Powers Section Never Mentions Repair

Section 1554 is one sentence, and it is worth quoting whole because the absences are the point: "The receiver has, under the control of the court, power to bring and defend actions in his own name, as receiver; to take and keep possession of the property, to receive rents, to collect debts, to compound for and compromise the same, to make transfers, and generally to do such acts respecting the property as the courts may authorize."

Possession, rents, debts, compromises, transfers, litigation. Not repair, not maintain, not secure, not rehabilitate, not insure. The word preserve appears once in the whole series and it is in Section 1551(4), about preserving property during the pendency of an appeal - a procedural preservation of the res, not a standard of care for a building. Everything a receiver spends on an Oklahoma roof arrives through the final clause: "such acts respecting the property as the courts may authorize." So on an Oklahoma receivership the operative document is the appointment order, and a scope that is not in the order is not in the statute either.

Two more sections shape who can hold the role. Section 1552: "No party, or attorney, or person interested in an action, shall be appointed receiver therein except by consent of all parties thereto." A lender cannot install its own interested officer over its own foreclosure unless every party agrees. Section 1553 requires the receiver, before entering upon his duties, to be sworn and to execute an undertaking with one or more sureties approved by the court, in such sum as the court directs - a bond, sized by the judge. Section 1555 adds that funds in a receiver's hands may be invested only by order of the court and only on the consent of all parties.

What the City May Do, and the One Thing It May Not

Title 11 Section 22-112(A) is the demolition power: "A municipal governing body may cause dilapidated buildings within the municipal limits to be torn down and removed." Torn down and removed. That is the entire structural authority in the chapter, and the chapter is where Oklahoma municipalities live. Search Chapter 22 for the word repair and it turns up only inside definitions - a structure which "lacks necessary repairs," a structure uninhabitable "due to lack of necessary repairs." The condition is defined by missing repairs. The remedy is never to supply them.

That is the sharpest divide in this series. Alabama's Section 11-53B-4 orders a building "repaired or demolished" and lets the municipality accomplish either by contract. Louisiana routes rehabilitation through a qualified entity against HUD standards. Oklahoma simply does not offer repair as a municipal option, which means no Oklahoma city is going to hire anyone to rehabilitate a building under Chapter 22. It hires demolition, board-ups and mowing.

The demolition procedure is tight and worth knowing step by step. At least ten days' notice before the hearing, posted on the property and mailed to the owner at the address shown by the current year's tax rolls in the county treasurer's office, with written notice also mailed to any mortgage holder of record in the county clerk's office at the mortgagee's last known address - and in each case the municipality must obtain a receipt of mailing from the postal service showing the date and the mailee. Then a hearing on whether the property is dilapidated and has become detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the general public, or creates a fire hazard dangerous to other property. On a finding, the governing body fixes reasonable dates for commencement and completion, the municipal clerk files a notice of dilapidation and lien with the county clerk, and the municipality's agents gain a right of entry if the owner has not done the work within the dates fixed.

Then the two clocks. Thirty business days from the date of the order to file any action challenging it, under Section 22-112(A)(3). Ten days from an administrative officer's order to file a written notice of appeal with the municipal clerk, under Section 22-112(B), where the city has delegated the duties by ordinance. The cost recoverable from the owner "shall not exceed the actual cost of the labor, maintenance, and equipment required for the dismantling and removal," and work done on a private contract basis "shall be awarded to the lowest and best bidder." Payment is due within six months of the statement, after which the clerk certifies the amount to the county treasurer, who collects it as other taxes.

The Definition Is a Clock

Section 22-112(C)(1) defines a dilapidated building five ways, and two of them are not about condition at all. Clause (c) catches a structure determined to be an unsecured building "more than three times within any twelve-month period." Clause (d) catches a structure "which has been boarded and secured, as defined by Section 22-112.1 of this title, for more than six (6) consecutive months." Clause (e) catches anything "declared by the municipal governing body to constitute a public nuisance."

Clause (d) is the one that surprises people. A board-up that worked, that nobody has breached, that is doing exactly what it was installed to do, becomes grounds for demolition in month seven simply by having stayed up. On a long-dated asset in Oklahoma, a successful board-up buys six months, not an indefinite hold - and the way out of the clause is re-occupancy or rehabilitation, neither of which the city will do for you.

Board and Secure Is as Close as Oklahoma Gets

Section 22-112.1 defines the work precisely: "boarding and securing" means "the closing, boarding or locking of any or all exterior openings so as to prevent entry into the structure." Not stabilising, not weatherising, not winterising. Closing openings.

The standard the governing body applies is in subsection (C)(3), and it is purposive rather than condition-based. The body may order boarding and securing where doing so "would make such building less available for transient occupation, decrease a fire hazard created by such building, or decrease the hazard that such building would constitute an attractive nuisance to children." Three stated purposes, all about what the building does to the neighbourhood. How bad the building is does not appear.

Three operational details sit in the same section. Subsection (C)(10) lets a city order a building boarded and secured "even though such building has not been declared, by the governing body, to be dilapidated" - the board-up route runs independently of the demolition route. Subsection (C)(2) lets the owner give written consent authorising the work and waiving the right to a hearing, but the same consent runs "to the payment of any costs incurred thereby." And subsection (C)(9) makes any subsequent need for boarding within six months of the first a public nuisance that "may be summarily boarded and secured without further prior notice." After one board-up, the city does not have to ask again.

Two numbers differ from the demolition section and both favour the city. The cost cap here is "the actual cost of the labor, materials and equipment" - materials, where Sections 22-111 and 22-112 say maintenance. And payment is due within thirty days of the statement rather than six months, after which the amount is certified to the county treasurer.

Mowing Has a Number: Twelve Inches

Section 22-111 covers cleaning and mowing, and it is the most commonly used provision in the chapter. Ten days' notice ordering the owner to clean the property of trash or to cut or mow the weeds or grass, stating that unless the work is performed within ten days of the date of the notice the municipality will do it and file a notice of lien.

The definition of "weed" in subsection (D) is where the enforceable standard lives. It covers poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac and "all vegetation at any state of maturity which exceeds twelve (12) inches in height," excepting healthy trees, shrubs or produce for human consumption grown in a tended and cultivated garden - unless density or location makes even those a detriment or a hazard. And regardless of height, vegetation that harbours, conceals or invites deposits of refuse or trash, harbours rodents or vermin, gives off unpleasant or noxious odours, constitutes a fire or traffic hazard, or is dead or diseased. "Trash" is defined separately as refuse, litter, ashes, leaves, debris, paper, combustible materials, rubbish, offal or waste "uncared for, discarded, or abandoned," and "cleaning" means the removal of trash from property.

Subsection (B) allows summary abatement of any repeat accumulation or excessive growth within six months of the first notice, without further prior notice - with one exception that matters to anyone buying at a sheriff's sale or taking a deed in lieu: it "shall not apply if the records of the county clerk show that the property was transferred after notice was given pursuant to subsection A." A recorded transfer resets the notice requirement. Buying the asset buys a fresh ten days.

One more Oklahoma particularity: Section 22-111.1 requires municipal employees assigned to enforce Section 22-111 to complete certification training applicable to that section - administered by the Oklahoma Code Enforcement Association, an internationally recognised model code organisation, a career technical education programme or an institution of higher education - within one year of employment or assignment. Oklahoma certifies the mowing inspector.

The Quarterly Meter

Section 22-112.4 is the newest piece, added by Laws 2014, c. 326, Section 3, and it is the closest thing in Oklahoma law to an ongoing obligation attached to a vacant building. An "abandoned building" is one that is not currently occupied and has been declared unsecured or dilapidated under Section 22-112 or 22-112.1 and remains in that condition. The section declares such a building a public nuisance for three stated reasons, the third being that it "devalues abutting and nearby real properties."

On a finding, the governing body orders the municipal clerk to place the building on an abandoned building list, and the clerk files a notice of lien with the county clerk before any abatement begins. What then gets assessed is not the cost of work on the building. It is the city's cost of dealing with it: a quarterly assessment of the actual costs of any municipal regulatory action, the actual costs of any municipal police or fire protection action, and any other actual expenses "including, but not limited to, the costs of notices, mailings and publications." The meter runs on municipal attention, and it keeps running until the building comes off the list.

Coming off is a petition, not a cure certificate. The owner or any mortgage holder may petition the governing body in writing at any time after the determination; the petition is filed with the municipal clerk and a hearing follows within thirty days. Removal is not retroactive - the property and the owner "shall remain liable for payment of any and all abatement costs incurred" before the order. For how one Oklahoma city runs this in practice, with its own fee schedule on top, see Oklahoma City's abandoned building list.

The Same Act That Banned Registration Built the List

Laws 2014, c. 326 did two things in two consecutive sections, and the pairing explains the shape of Oklahoma compliance. Section 3 of the act created the abandoned-building list just described. Section 2 created Section 22-110.1, which declares that "the registration of any real property by any municipality is declared to be a statewide concern and shall be prohibited," and then prohibits it: no municipality "shall enact or attempt to enforce through fees, civil fines or criminal penalties any ordinance, rule or regulation to require the registration of real property," and any ordinance to the contrary, "whether enacted prior to or after August 22, 2014, is declared null and void and unenforceable against every owner, purchaser, assignee, lessee, mortgagee or beneficiary of any interest in the real property."

What survives is information-gathering without a fee. A municipality may still create a list of property owners or their designees to ensure public safety and welfare, and for the purpose of addressing public nuisances, dilapidated properties or other unlawful conduct may require contact information for the persons or entities responsible for emergency contracts and property maintenance, or the name of a person authorised to receive notice and service of process. But the section is explicit: "Municipal governments shall not collect a fee to administer the collection of information authorized in this section."

Subsection (E) extends the same logic to properties already in an abatement process: the city may require the name, physical address and telephone number of an individual to receive and respond to communications about the property, must not assess any additional charge for requiring it, and - the sentence to read twice - "no future action taken by the municipality shall be rendered ineffective due to the failure of the property owner to provide the information." Not naming a contact does not slow the city down; it only removes your own warning system. Subsection (F) makes information obtained under the section confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Open Records Act.

So Oklahoma has no registration fee to budget and no renewal date to diary. The cost arrives later and larger, as a quarterly assessment under Section 22-112.4 or a demolition bill under Section 22-112, and the only early warning is the notice that goes to the tax-roll address of record.

Where the Lien Sits

Sections 22-111, 22-112 and 22-112.4 all recover money the same way and all three use the same sentence. The costs and interest become a lien against the property from the date the notice of lien is filed with the county clerk, "coequal with the lien of ad valorem taxes and all other taxes and special assessments" and "prior and superior to all other titles and liens against the property," continuing until fully paid. The costs are simultaneously the personal obligation of the owner from the filing date, so the municipality can pursue an action in personam against the owner and an action in rem to foreclose the lien if the county treasurer cannot collect.

That puts Oklahoma at the opposite end of the range from Alabama, where Section 11-53B-5 subordinates the municipal assessment to mortgages recorded before it. In Oklahoma a mowing bill, properly noticed and filed, outranks a recorded first mortgage. Two carve-outs run through all three sections: a mineral interest severed from the surface interest and not owned by the surface owner is not subject to any tax or judgment lien created under them, and none of the sections apply to property zoned and used for agricultural purposes. Section 22-111 also excludes railroad property under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, except for weeds or trash posing a traffic hazard within ten yards of the public right-of-way at intersections.

What This Means If You Do the Work

• No Oklahoma court is going to hand a derelict building to a rehabilitator - there is no receivership to be appointed to, and no municipal repair power to be contracted for
• If you are a receiver in an Oklahoma foreclosure, your authority to spend on the building is in the appointment order, not in Section 1554 - get the scope and the spending limits written into the order
• An interested party, its attorney, or any person interested in the action cannot be the receiver without the consent of every party (Section 1552), and the receiver posts a court-sized bond with sureties before starting (Section 1553)
• Municipal work goes to the lowest and best bidder, and what the owner can be charged is capped at actual labor, maintenance and equipment on a demolition or a mow, and actual labor, materials and equipment on a board-up
• A board-up is a six-month instrument: six consecutive months boarded, or three unsecured findings in twelve months, converts the building into a dilapidated one that may be torn down
• Thirty business days from the order to challenge a demolition; ten days to appeal an administrative officer's order to the governing body
• A recorded transfer after a Section 22-111 notice defeats summary abatement against the new owner - the ten-day notice starts again

For the states that do put a derelict building into someone else's hands, see the Ohio R.C. 3767.41 receiver and its first lien, the two Texas nuisance receiverships, Louisiana's consent-based blighted housing receivership and Pennsylvania's Act 135 conservatorship. For the other two states in this series with no receivership at all, see Alabama, whose lien ranks behind a prior mortgage and Arkansas, where priority is available but only by court order and only up to a statutory cap. Oklahoma's fiduciary side is covered separately: an executor under 58 O.S. Section 290 must keep buildings in good tenantable repair, and a guardian's duty to the ward's house runs through a different chapter again. State-wide field capability is on our Oklahoma page, with the broader servicer view in the Oklahoma state guide.