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State Lawmakers Should Support Schneiderman’s Bill

State lawmakers should give serious consideration this fall to legislation proposed earlier this year by Eric Schneiderman, state attorney general, to help municipalities deal with abandoned properties.

Zombie properties, as they are called, are a byproduct of lengthy foreclosure timelines. When a homeowner falls too far behind on their mortgage, they simply abandon the home and let the bank foreclose on the mortgage. The home is then in limbo – the property owner abandons the home and the bank often fails to perform basic maintenance like mowing the lawn on the home. The results often are the eyesores we drive or walk past every day.

According to RealtyTrac, a company which tracks various housing trends at all levels, the incidences of these zombie properties have decreased nationally since the foreclosure crisis of 2007 but still account for one in five foreclosures. New York state, as is often the case, is on the wrong side of the trend. RealtyTrac reports zombie foreclosures increasing 38 percent in New York state with 12,666 in the second quarter of 2014.

Zombie properties cost good property owners. Jamestown taxpayers, for example, are paying a pair of two-person crews to cut grass at the city’s 58 abandoned properties. While the city has increased the fee for grass cutting over the past couple of years, it can still be less expensive for a bank to let the city cut the grass and bill the bank than it would for the bank to hire a landscaper. It can also be harder to discern the ownership status of a zombie property, making it difficult for city officials to have houses brought into code compliance or to find the legal owner if a home needs to be demolished. Taxpayers often end up paying the cost of a demolition because a property owner simply can’t be found.

Schneiderman’s bill, which has been supported by the City Council, would require lenders to perform basic maintenance throughout the foreclosure process. It would also create a statewide registry of abandoned properties and share that information with local officials, create a toll-free hotline to report suspected vacant properties and require homeowners be notified they are legally entitled to stay in their homes until ordered by a court to leave.

This is a proposal that should be passed by the state Legislature.

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