Identifying absentee landlords as a significant source of the blight across the city, Mayor Will Flanagan announced a plan Monday that will empower residents to report problems and improve their neighborhoods.

Standing outside a boarded-up home on the corner of Bank and Seventh streets, Flanagan said the Building Blocks program will require the owners of derelict property citywide to bring the structures up to code or face having the buildings taken into receivership.

Through the program, Flanagan said residents will collaborate with various city departments to create a Neighborhood Building Block Plan that addresses the varying priorities and issues associated with each neighborhood. Flanagan noted that approximately 45 percent of the city’s multi-family homes are owned by people who live outside of Fall River.

Those groups will work to identify properties that are significant sources of police calls or violators of minimum housing or sanitary codes.

Flanagan said the owners of identified properties will be given 14 days to bring their buildings up to code or face going through the court system and have the property be taken by a receiver.

“If the homeowner is no longer able to keep up, we will find someone who is willing to do the work,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan also announced the city will work with BankFive to develop a first-time homeowner program for properties identified through the Building Blocks initiative.

BankFive President Bill Eccles said the program will follow similar initiatives in New Bedford and Dartmouth that the bank has participated in.

“I can assure you we’ll be there when you need us,” Eccles said.

Flanagan said properties that can not be taken into receivership will be taken down another path that could include demolishing the structures and creating a urban tree farm or community garden.

Hoping to avoid the receivership step, Flanagan said he will also be submitting an ordinance for the City Council’s consideration that would require landlords who live outside of the city to provide contact information for a local person to address problems at any building. Flanagan said the ordinance is based on a 2008 ordinance enacted in Boston.

He said he will also ask the council to adopt a state law that requires property owners who live outside of the city to identify a local person that can be contacted for any issues related to their property.

“By having a local person’s contact information it will allow us to immediately get a person out to address these problems,” Flanagan said.