Public nuisances in Arroyo: the privatized Designated Agent program
Arroyo adopted the most distinctive regulation in Puerto Rico with Ordinance No. 20, Series 2024-2025, passed unanimously by the Municipal Legislature on April 10, 2025 and signed by the mayor on April 11, 2025.1 It repeals Ordinance 1, Series 2017-2018. Its bet: privatize the program's operation through a Designated Agent, create a division that helps owners avoid declaration, and run every property that looks abandoned but is inhabited through the Legislature first. This guide walks the full model and closes with the points where the Municipal Code corrects it.
The Designated Agent: a privatized program
The centerpiece is the Designated Agent (AD): an external private for-profit entity the Mayor contracts through professional services for a minimum two (2) year term to shape, plan, execute and conclude the Public Nuisance Control and Revitalization Program on the Municipality's behalf, at the expense of its own means, expertise and capital.4 The regulation clarifies that the AD handles no public funds or assets, and that declared properties remain private throughout the process.
The counterweight is the Citizen Collaboration and Support Division: the first to intervene with owners who appear, offering support, consulting, and legal or financial guidance on the tangles that usually turn properties into nuisances: inheritance conflicts, title, debts, possession and adverse possession.5 Its stated goal is to avoid the declaration and restore the property while protecting ownership rights.
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The inhabited-property filter
Arroyo added a protection no other municipality in the group has: if a property looks abandoned or lacks water or power but is inhabited by a resident, it is reported to the Municipality and the Municipal Legislature, and neither the Municipality nor the Designated Agent takes any action until the Legislature approves or rejects, in an average of thirty (30) days.6 If the Legislature rejects, the property is not considered a public nuisance. The regulation expressly acknowledges that there are residents without water or power service, and allows bringing in agencies like the Family Department, ASSMCA or Public Housing to help them.
The notice, your 20 and your 30 days
The intent to declare is served personally or by certified mail with return receipt, searching for owners at the Property Registry and CRIM; if whereabouts are unknown or the property is unrecorded, an edict is published in one print newspaper and one digital outlet, with no prior court order, and notices may include multiple properties. The letter asks two things on different clocks: remove the detriment within twenty (20) days,7 and exercise within thirty (30) days your right to oppose and request the administrative hearing in writing.8 If you fail to appear in any form, the mayor or a five-member evaluation committee (one municipal legislator, two people designated by the Designated Agent and two by the mayor) declares the property a public nuisance by vote and resolution.9
The hearing and the orders
The hearing is held before an Examining Official who must be a licensed engineer or attorney authorized to practice in Puerto Rico (contractable, with costs charged to the proceeding).10 If you request it, the date is noticed to you within thirty (30) days of receipt of the request, and the hearing itself is noticed no less than ten (10) days in advance;11 it is only postponed for just cause notified five (5) days ahead. The order can come out three ways: not a nuisance (case closed); repairable, with up to thirty (30) days and extensions that combined do not exceed one (1) year; or demolition at the owner's expense within up to thirty (30) days, with an extension of up to ninety (90) days. Once the property is declared, you have sixty (60) days to clean; otherwise the Municipality or its AD does it and collects the costs with legal interest, secured by a tacit legal mortgage.12
The key deadlines at a glance
| Step | Term | If it lapses |
|---|---|---|
| Remove the detriment (letter) | 20 days from notice | The declaration process continues |
| Oppose and request a hearing | 30 days from notice or edict | The mayor or evaluation committee declares |
| Legislative filter (inhabited properties) | Average of 30 days | No municipal action until the Legislature decides |
| Repair or clean (Official's order) | Up to 30 days, extensions up to 1 year | The Municipality or its AD executes at your expense |
| Demolish (Official's order) | Up to 30 days, extension of up to 90 | The Municipality or its AD demolishes at your expense |
| Clean after the declaration | 60 days from the resolution | Municipal execution with costs plus legal interest |
| Legislature Resolution (blocks) | 30 days from filing | Block approval of the expropriation |
| Ordinary expropriation lawsuit | Maximum 1 year from the answer | Arroyo's own cap on the litigation |
| Unclaimed heirs (Code) | 3 years from the declaration | Adjudication to the municipality (the regulation is silent) |
| Rehabilitate after buying | 1 year, extendable 1 additional year | The Municipality's conventional repurchase right |
The fines: one time only, and the Code says otherwise
| Fine | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| For municipal cleanup | $500 to $5,000 | If the Municipality or its AD incurred the cleanup costs |
| The regulation's limit | One single occasion | The regulation provides it may only be set once |
| After re-inspection | $5,000 flat | If the condition has not ceased when the term lapses |
| The Code's quarterly fine | $1,000 to $5,000 | Article 4.010 orders it as recurring; the Code controls |
The clock detail: if you do not pay within sixty (60) days of the demand, the amount joins the tacit mortgage lien; and if collection fails for another sixty (60) days, the Municipality files the foreclosure action, keeping what is owed and depositing the balance in a separate account. For those who objected with proof of ownership, there is an exit: when the term lapses the property is re-inspected, and if the conditions were satisfactorily eliminated, it comes off the inventory.
Buying in Arroyo: blocks, lotteries and real estate agents
The inventory (location, cadastre, registry description with liens, owner with address and phone, and appraisal) is made available to the public during an initial thirty-day period from its issuance. From there, the applicant-acquirer process: you file your intent in writing with the use you will give the property, deposit the appraised value plus ten percent (10%) for costs (appraisal, survey, fees), and if expenses exceed that 10%, you cover the difference. Two hard rules: if you withdraw with the case filed, what you paid is non-refundable; and no title is delivered if debts from the process remain.17
- Block resolutions: given the volume of identified nuisances, expropriation projects go to the Municipal Legislature in blocks of up to ten (10) properties in a single Resolution, evaluated and approved within thirty days.18
- Notary-supervised lottery: if two or more file intent on the same property the same day, a public lottery is held with numbered tickets in a rotating drum, run by the Municipality or its AD and inspected by an authorized notary attorney.19
- Conflicts of interest: those who participated directly in the process that led to the declaration cannot acquire expropriated properties.20
- Municipally Authorized Accredited Investor (IAAM): the Municipality may authorize accredited investors (with SEC-style standards: reconstruction experience, proven income and assets) to acquire sets of properties for affordable social-interest housing, using programs like FHA, R-3, HUD, CDBG-DR, Section 8 and AFV, with an anti-discrimination clause.21
- The buyer cleans: if a declared property already has applicant-acquirers, the Municipality and its AD are not required to clean it: the acquirer binds itself by contract to eliminate the detriment within one year of the transfer.22
- After the title: the conventional repurchase right applies if you do not rehabilitate or group within one year, with a possible extension of one (1) additional year on justified written request.23 The municipality also pushes permitting before OGPe, and sets a certainty rule: once the appraisal report is issued, no price reduction can be requested.24
On the ordinary route, the complaint goes under Rule 58 with a local accelerator: the lawsuit, from the answer to the resolution on the merits, may not exceed one (1) year,25 and the court may enter default if no answer comes within thirty days of filing. On the summary route, the regulation mirrors Article 4.012A: 20 days to answer (30 by edict) non-extendable, judgment in 5 days,26 no deposit upon filing, three (3) years to claim the compensation (and, once time-barred, the Municipality may put the deposited funds to public use), priority for buyers of properties rehabilitable as residences, and exclusion of third parties and investors with the first-year exception. Compare the routes in 4.012 vs 4.012A and the general picture in our acquisition guide.
And two unique closing pieces: for properties the Municipality ends up owning after foreclosures, it may contract licensed real estate agents (with errors-and-omissions insurance endorsed to the Municipality) to sell them on the market, reserving award decisions to the Bids Board;27 and if declared nuisances exceed one hundred (100) units, the Mayor may declare an emergency and request summary judgment from the Court of First Instance to speed up solutions.28 Any conveyance without prior authorization and without the regulation's procedures is void.29
What the Code corrects or completes
The ordinance is from April 2025; Act 97-2026 amended the Municipal Code on June 1, 2026.3 Where they differ, the Code controls:
- The deadline to perform the works: 30 days, not 60.33 Act 97-2026 cut from sixty (60) to thirty (30) days the Article 4.010 term to perform the works after notice of the declaration; the regulation still says sixty.
- The cleanup fine: the regulation sets it at $500 to $5,000 for a single occasion, but Article 4.010 of the Code orders a recurring quarterly fine of $1,000 to $5,000 while the situation persists, plus the repeat-offense fines. The local one-time cap cannot limit what the law mandates.
- Inheritances: the regulation is silent. The Code's current rules apply directly: property whose heirs fail to claim it for more than three (3) years is adjudicated to the municipality by court order.30
- Unknown owner: also silent. If no titleholder or person with a real right appears and more than one (1) year passes from the declaration, ex parte adjudication proceeds.31
- Occupied principal residence: the local legislative filter already protects inhabited properties, and since June 2026 the Code adds that a structure occupied as the principal residence of a possessor with dominion is not considered a public nuisance.32
Where to verify every fact
The full text of Ordinance 20 is in the SUTRA registry of the Office of Legislative Services,1 and the consolidated Municipal Code is in OGP's Virtual Library.2 The municipality's profile on our platform is at Arroyo.
Sources
- 1.
Ordenanza Núm. 20, Serie 2024-2025, del Municipio de Arroyo, aprobada por unanimidad por la Legislatura Municipal el 10 de abril de 2025 y firmada por el alcalde el 11 de abril de 2025; deroga la Ordenanza 1, Serie 2017-2018, y adopta el Reglamento para la Planificación, Manejo, Identificación y Revitalización de Propiedades Inmuebles Estorbos Públicos (registro SUTRA con el PDF completo; el OCR del documento presenta el orden de líneas alterado por el formato del PDF)
- 2.
Ley 107-2020, Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, texto consolidado OGP (rev. 4 de junio de 2026), según enmendada por las Leyes 114-2024 y 97-2026
- 3.
Ley 97-2026 (P. del S. 777), aprobada el 1 de junio de 2026, que enmendó los Artículos 4.008, 4.010, 4.012 y 4.012A del Código Municipal, texto radicado en SUTRA
- 4.
Art. 4(a), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Agente Designado (AD): Entidad privada externa con fines de ... un término mínimo de dos (2) años ... establece una relación contractual por servicios profesionales por»
- 5.
Art. 4(g), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «División de Colaboración y Apoyo al Ciudadano: Entidad ... conflictos de titularidad, deudas, conflictos de posesión, ... la declaración de estorbos públicos como conflictos de herencia,»
- 6.
Art. 5(i), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Propiedades Habitadas: Toda propiedad que aparente abandono ... el Municipio y/o el Agente Designado (AD) no tomarán acción»
- 7.
Art. 5(j)(3), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Se solicitará que proceda con la limpieza de la ... vecinal, en un término de veinte (2o) días, contados»
- 8.
Art. 5(j)(3), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «dentro del término de treinta (3o) días, contados a ... público y a solicitar por escrito una Vista ... Su derecho a oponerse a la declaración de estorbo»
- 9.
Art. 7(b), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «personas designadas por el Agente Designado (AD) y dos ... comité evaluador compuesto por un legislador municipal, dos»
- 10.
Art. 6(b), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «El Oficial Examinador será un ingeniero o un abogado licenciado y ... autorizado a ejercer la profesión en Puerto Rico en ambos casos.»
- 11.
Art. 6(d), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «La notificación de la vista administrativa se hará con no menos de ... diez (1o) días de anticipación a su celebración e indicará la fecha,»
- 12.
Art. 7(b), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «sesenta (6o) días, a partir de la notificación de la resolución. Si»
- 13.
Art. 7(c), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «cinco mil ($5,ooo.oo) dólares. ... será no menor de quinientos ($5oo.oo) dólares ni mayor de»
- 14.
Art. 8(d), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Se dispone que dicha multa solamente se podrá establecer en ... Las multas impuestas serán pagadas al ... una sola ocasión. Esta multa será adicional al costo que»
- 15.
Art. 8(g), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «condición, se impondrá una multa fija de cinco mil dólares. ... provisto, el inmueble será re-inspeccionado para verificar si se»
- 16.
Art. 4.010, Ley 107-2020, Código Municipal (texto OGP rev. 4 de junio de 2026), pág. 242: «se le impondrá una multa trimestral al titular, a ser pagada al Municipio donde esté situada la propiedad inmueble, la cual será no menor de mil (1,000) dólares ni mayor de cinco mil (5,000) dólares.»
- 17.
Art. 8(h)(9), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «alguno si se quedara deuda de los gastos. ... tendrá que aportar la diferencia. No se entregará título»
- 18.
Art. 8(f), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Resolución en un periodo no mayor a treinta días posterior a su ... Municipal en bloques no más de diez (1o) para maximizar los»
- 19.
Art. 8(h)(11), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «tambor giratorio y prevalecerá para ser el solicitante ... En aquellos casos en donde dos personas naturales o ... dirigido e inspeccionado por un abogado notario»
- 20.
Art. 8(g), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «directamente en el proceso que culminó con la declaración de ... Municipio o Agente Designado aquellos que hayan participado ... anterior, no podrán adquirir propiedades expropiadas por el»
- 21.
Art. 8(h)(12), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «dirigido a facilitar la creación de viviendas de interés social ... adquirir un conjunto de propiedades declaradas estorbos públicos,»
- 22.
Art. 8(h)(17), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «la condición del detrimento de dicha propiedad ... se obligará mediante un contrato con el ... propiedad, ya que dicho solicitante adquirente»
- 23.
Art. 9(a), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «podrá conceder una prórroga de un (1) año ... de retracto convencional establecido por esta»
- 24.
Art. 9(a)(19), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «solicitar rebaja del valor, debido a que el ... realizado el informe de tasación, no se podrá ... tasación. Una vez a la propiedad se le haya»
- 25.
Art. 8(h)(13), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «méritos, no podrá exceder de un (1) año. El Tribunal ... la contestación a la demanda hasta la resolución en sus»
- 26.
Art. 8(h)(13)(2), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Este término será improrrogable y de no ... demanda y establecer sus defensas y treinta ... término de veinte (2o) días para contestar la»
- 27.
Art. 10, Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «o varios Agentes de Bienes Raíces debidamente licenciados, para que ... Gestores de Ventas de Bienes Raíces»
- 28.
Art. 12(f), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «En caso de Declaración de Emergencia por exceso de Estorbos ... Sumaria al Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior, para poder ... Públicos a una suma mayor de cien (1oo) unidades ya declaradas a»
- 29.
Art. 12(h), Ordenanza 20, Serie 2024-2025, de Arroyo (Reglamento de Estorbos Públicos, OCR del PDF oficial en SUTRA; fragmentos textuales en el orden del OCR): «Sera nula toda enajenación realizada sin la previa autorización del ... correspondientes. Toda deuda de CRIM será anulada una vez el»
- 30.
Art. 4.010(e), Ley 107-2020, Código Municipal (texto OGP rev. 4 de junio de 2026), pág. 243: «Cuando el inmueble tenga heredero(s), pero hayan pasado más de tres (3) años, luego de haber sido declarado estorbo público, sin ser reclamado, el mismo será adjudicado al Municipio donde esté sito, mediante mandamiento judicial.»
- 31.
Art. 4.010(f), Ley 107-2020, Código Municipal (texto OGP rev. 4 de junio de 2026), pág. 244: «no compareció ningún titular ni persona alguna con un derecho real sobre la propiedad a oponerse a la declaración y haya pasado más de un (1) año, luego de haber sido declarado estorbo público, sin ser reclamado, el mismo será adjudicado al Municipio»
- 32.
Art. 4.010(g), Ley 107-2020, Código Municipal (texto OGP rev. 4 de junio de 2026), pág. 244: «Para fines de este Artículo no se considerará un estorbo público la estructura ocupada como residencia principal de un poseedor que ejerce dominio sobre la propiedad.»
- 33.
Art. 4.010, Ley 107-2020, Código Municipal (texto OGP rev. 4 de junio de 2026), pág. 242: «si el propietario no realiza o cumple con la orden expedida, según lo antes dispuesto, dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la notificación de la declaración»
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