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Nora Glossary

Below are some common terms and definitions you may find when visiting the NORA site, or in the course of conversation with someone from our organization.

Blight

NORA uses the official City of New Orleans Office of Code Enforcement definition of Blight.

A property can be considered blighted if:

  • It is chronically vacant.
  • There are unresolved code violations for unsafe, unsanitary or unhealthy conditions.
  • It has been declared a fire hazard.
  • It is lacking in facilities or equipment required by the Housing Code of the City of New Orleans.
  • It has been deemed “demolition by neglect” pursuant to section 84-108 or 84-208 of the City Code.
  • It has a substantial negative impact on the health, safety, or economic vitality of a neighborhood.
  • It is a vacant lot that is abandoned, does not meet the requirements of the City Code or has been adjudicated.
  • There is a vermin infestation.

For more information on blighted properties, please visit the City of New Orleans’ code enforcement page about blight.

Bonding (Bonds)

A debt investment in which an investor loans money to an entity (corporate or governmental) that borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a fixed interest rate. Companies, municipalities, states and U.S. and foreign governments to finance a variety of projects and activities use bonds.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is a flexible program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. Beginning in 1974, the CDBG program is one of the longest continuously run programs at HUD. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to 1209 general units of local government and States. For more information, please refer to: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/

Dilapidated Properties

Nuisance properties, which property owners have abandoned and failed to maintain.

Eminent Domain

See Expropriation

Expropriation

Often used interchangeably with the term Eminent Domain. Expropriation is a compulsory seizure or surrender of private party by the government to protect the good of the public such as protection from dilapidated or chronic nuisance properties. In New Orleans, there will be fair market value compensation given to the owner for the property. Expropriation (Eminent Domain) requires a strict and fair legal process and is only used as a last resort when other measures have been exhausted.

Homestead Exemption

Homestead exemption is a legal regime designed to protect the value of the homes of residents from property taxes, creditors, and circumstances arising from the death of the homeowner spouse. Laws enacting such protections are found in state statutes or constitutional provisions that exist in many states in the United States. Home stead exemption may only be held of a homeowners primary residence.

HUD

HUD is the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development that administers federal programs dealing with better housing and urban renewal; created in 1965. For more information, please refer to http://portal.hud.gov.

Louisiana Land Trust (Road Home)

The Louisiana Land Trust is a non profit organization formed to manage the properties that have been purchased by the State of Louisiana under the current Road Home Program as part of the ongoing recovery effort from the damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

For more information, please see http://www.road2la.org/

NSP2 Program

Please visit the NSP2 section of the website for more information.

Nuisance Properties (Public Nuisance)

NORA uses the official City of New Orleans Office of Code Enforcement definition of Blight.

A property can be considered a public nuisance if:

  • There is a significant amount of trash or garbage on the lot.
  • There are plants or weeds above 18 inches.
  • There are abandoned automobiles, building material, discarded appliances, machinery or furnishing.
  • It could be a hazard to children because of the condition of its foundation, the condition of the slab, abandoned machinery, unsecured building materials, uncovered holes or uncovered excavation.
  • There are conditions that could allow vermin infestation.
  • There are objects that can hold standing water.

For more information on nuisance properties, please visit the City of New Orleans’ code enforcement page about blight.

Real Properties

In common law, real property, realty, real estate, or immovable property is any land and the improvements to it made by human efforts — buildings, machinery, the acquisition of various property rights, and the like. Real property and personal property are the main classifications of property.

Remediation Strategies

Methods utilized to eliminate blight and redevelop a property or neighborhood.

RFP (RFPs)

A Request for Proposals is an invitation for vendors or property improvers to submit proposals to provide services or purchase property. Request for Proposals are then evaluated based on set criteria by a NORA panel. Applicants are selected based on these evaluations.

Road Home

See Louisiana Land Trust (above).

Single Property Blight Expropriations

The process in which NORA works through the Court to obtain title to an individual property. The property must first be officially declared “blighted” through City of New Orleans Code Enforcement.

Slum Clearance

The removal of blighted properties that are grouped together along a street, neighborhood or other areas.

Sweat Equity

Work, especially manual labor, performed in return for a share in ownership, as of a home.