The city of Mesa, which saw nearly 1,000 foreclosures in May alone, is looking for ways to deal with the flood of abandoned property. The city has been attempting code enforcement on abandoned properties but faces issues as to identifying who owns them. 

Many of the abandoned homes are in disrepair and in need of yard maintenance but the city can't pin down whom, exactly, to hold responsible for maintenance as many of the properties are in limbo between default and foreclosure. 

Mesa is hoping to fix that by joining about 300 other cities that have adopted abandoned-property registration ordinances. The idea of the program is to find a responsible party for the property, make sure they register the property with the city make sure the place is secured and begin maintaining it. Maintenance would continue until the property is reoccupied. 

The company would have to inspect the property monthly to ensure compliance. It also would have to provide contact information - a local property-management company, for example, if the lender is from out of state.