A rundown property. Absentee owner. Code violations on top of code violations. Months in the court system. Fines levied that are never collected. Liens filed against the property to the point that they exceed the value of the property itself.

This is a far too common scenario in municipalities across the state, as officials struggle to eliminate blight that experts say will spread like the flu if left unchecked, taking down property values in the entire community.

That scenario should become a thing of the past, however. New legislation that will go into effect after the first of the year will give local officials a new and effective arsenal of tools that, combined with legal tools that already exist and those that can be created by municipalities, can be used against negligent property owners.

Property owners who know how to work the system and avoid making the repairs demanded by municipalities are in for a rude awakening, according to Bellevue code enforcement officer (CEO) Jim Delcroix.

Those landlords and land owners now face penalties never before seen in Pennsylvania. For instance, instead of filing liens against properties, officials will be able to seize any personal property of the real estate owner to satisfy fines and costs of code violations.

For repeat offenders, summary violations can become a thing of the past, replaced by criminal misdemeanor charges that carry hefty fines and possible prison time. Those penalties can kick in after a property owner has been cited four times for the same condition.

With the criminal penalties also comes the power to extradite property owners from other states to face charges in Pennsylvania.

Municipalities also can deny permits to a property owner who has problem properties anywhere in the state.

If all else fails, officials as well as private citizens have the right to petition the court for the right to take over an abandoned or blighted property, obtaining loans against the value of the property in order to make the necessary repairs.

Officials from Avalon and Bellevue who attended a “Blight Summit” at Point Park College this week got a crash course in the tools available to them in the fight against blight. Hosted by state representatives Dan Deasy and Dom Costa, the program was held in conjunction with the Housing Alliance of Pennsylva-nia and the House Urban Affairs Committee.

The local officials who attended -- Avalon tax collector Ed Klicker, Bellevue tax collector Joe Nolan, Bellevue CEO Jim Delcroix, Avalon Council safety committee chairman Patrick Narcisi and Avalon borough manager Harry Dilmore -- split up to attend as many workshops as possible and share the information afterwards.

In was the first step in what Nolan sees as a critical cooperative effort to combat blight.

“We either act together to survive or we perish together,” Nolan said, adding that the Northgate School District also has to join forces with the boroughs.

Nolan points out that the impact of blight reaches much farther than the homes next door to an abandoned house. As property values decrease, so does the tax revenue from those properties, leaving boroughs and schools with less money, which leads to higher tax rates or service cuts.

“Blight affects us all,” Nolan said.

In Avalon, residents got a jump on the problem several years ago when Narcisi formed the “Quality of Life” committee through council’s safety committee. Members -- who include residents and officials -- tackle the problem on several fronts at once, researching causes and potential legal solutions while also sponsoring projects to beautify the borough, reward property maintenance and bring a sense of community that will foster responsible property ownership.

Narcisi was optimistic about the new legislation.

“It’s going to give us a lot more options,” he said.

One of the options that the local boroughs will be looking at is the “Sweep” program instituted by the City of Allentown. With the proper ordinances in place, local officials will be able to circumvent lengthy court procedures by giving code enforcement and police officers the authority to write citations similar to parking tickets.

Now, explained Delcroix, he has to issue a citation that automatically goes to the district court, which can take weeks, if not months, followed by delays and appeals in some cases.

In the Sweep program, violators were issued $25 citations and had the option of paying them immediately or requesting a court hearing. According to Narcisi, officials found that many people simply paid the tickets.

Delcroix said that he and Bellevue’s fire marshal proposed just such an ordinance some time ago, but it has yet to come before Bellevue Council.

The new legislation -- and the summit -- have local officials optimistic about addressing blight in their communities.

“I think it’s a brave new code world now,” Delcroix said.