Portland city commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to begin foreclosure on three nuisance properties, hoping to collect nearly $200,000 in overdue liens or seize the land to sell it at auction.

Properties land on the foreclosure program list after repeated code violation fines and liens go unpaid. Many such homes, sometimes called "zombie homes," are boarded up and vacant and may attract squatters. City documents call the homes "magnets for crime" and drug use. Mayor Ted Wheeler said Wednesday that several hundred zombie homes are dotted throughout Portland.

Commissioners stressed that they are reticent to allow the city to seize and sell private property to the highest bidder. But they said they have no other viable choice in some cases, given the ramshackle state of the properties.

Since 2016, the city code enforcement bureau has proposed foreclosing on 65 run-down and dangerous properties. Owners paid off the liens on 37 of those as a result, netting $1.6 million. Commissioners ultimately voted to seize just 13 of the homes. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said city-sponsored foreclosure is a measure of last resort.

The three properties commissioners voted to foreclose upon Wednesday lie in different neighborhoods in northeast and southeast Portland: Parkrose, Powellhurst-Gilbert and Sabin. They're subject to a collective 15 liens and $192,730 in fines. The fact that owners didn't respond to numerous notices was a factor in the decision to foreclose, officials explained.

Deputy City Auditor Sarah Landis testified that the three houses all are frequented by squatters and have required many visits from city cleanup crews and the police. One of the homes has been vacant for 18 years, Landis said.

Eudaly said derelict houses are "creating extraordinary hardship in our neighborhoods" and are "one of the most frustrating things" that the development bureau oversees. Eudaly, who runs the city bureau responsible for code enforcement, said the city ought to be even "more aggressive and move faster" to rid neighborhoods of tumbledown houses.

Even after the city begins a foreclosure sale, homeowners have a chance to get their house back if they pay their fines plus other city costs. If they don't, the city treasurer auctions off the house. Property owners can still reclaim their property up to one year after the auction if they pay the full sale price.

"I know all of us on the council are very reluctant to take peoples' properties," said Commissioner Amanda Fritz. "With property rights comes responsibilities."

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman