A.  No such work shall be undertaken by the governing authority pursuant to this Section until the owner of the property, as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 33:5066, has been given notice and a minimum of forty-five days to perform the maintenance.

B.(1)  A governing authority may undertake the maintenance of the property if the requirements of notice and time delay as provided for herein have been met and the maintenance has not been performed.

(2)  The governing authority shall take a photograph showing the condition of the property before the maintenance is performed and shall take a photograph showing the condition of the property after the maintenance is performed.  The governing authority shall keep records showing the expenses incurred in maintaining the property, and those records shall be retained for a period of five years or until the property is sold, whichever time is less.

(3)  The governing authority shall use licensed and insured vendors to perform maintenance on property pursuant to this Section.

C.  After completion of the maintenance on the subject property, the governing authority shall record in the public mortgage records in the parish where the property is located, an affidavit, signed by either the chief elected official or his designee or by the parish or city attorney or his designee.  The required affidavit shall include the following:

(1)  A legal description of the property to which maintenance was performed, sufficient to reasonably identify it.

(2)  The name of the property owner.

(3)  A description of the maintenance performed and an itemization of the amounts of money spent on maintenance.

(4)  The name of the governing authority and a statement that the provisions of this statute and the provisions of the applicable local ordinance have been complied with.

Acts 2012, No. 692, §2, eff. Oct. 1, 2012.