Mayors back plan to tackle zombie properties

Krystle S. MoreyReporter- Albany Business ReviewEmail  |  LinkedIn  |  Twitter
There are more than 700 "zombie properties" in the City of Amsterdam, New York. Each of those properties cost the city roughly $60,000 to maintain, according to Mayor Ann Thane.

Zombie properties is a code name for buildings that are stuck in foreclosure and are in major need of improvements.

Thane joined mayors from Troy, Albany and Schenectady Monday in supporting legislation that Thane said will help local municipalities combat the growing number of distressed properties in the state. The mayors gathered at Albany City Hall to push the Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act. Others participating at the event included Troy Mayor Lou Rosamilia, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan of Albany and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy.

The Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act, proposed by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, would require banks to maintain vacant properties no later than three months after they are abandoned. The legislation also would create a statewide registry of zombie properties and require a notice to be sent to homeowners, urging homeowners to maintain the residence after property has been identified as being at risk of foreclosure.

"Zombie properties cost municipalities millions of dollars a year in maintenance, codes, and police and fire response," said Thane, who is also the President of the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM). "This is a plague too costly to sustain."

The current federal law requires companies such as Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration to pay for foreclosed properties. The proposed legislation would require banks to maintain those properties earlier in the foreclosure process to avoid additional code enforcement and demolition costs.

Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, a Brooklyn Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation, said there are more than 15,000 registered zombie properties in New York.

"I think there are more than that," Weinstein said of the abandoned properties are a drain on neighborhoods and dramatically reduce property values.

"This is one of the most, if not the most, significant pieces of legislation in terms of providing resources to cities there is," said Schenectady mayor McCarthy. "I don't want to be in the real estate business, but we are ending up in it."

There are over 2,000 zombie properties in the City of Schenectady.

McCarthy pointed to a property on State Street in Schenectady that has cost the city more than $60,000.

"Fire and police officials have responded to the property 108 times," McCarthy said, adding that arson and drug activity are prevalent at the property.

"Had the banks acted earlier, investments to maintain the property would have been made and they could have salvaged the value of the property," McCarthy said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/alb.....erties.html?page=all

Wow, 2,000 "zombie" properties in the city  "Zombie" properties are the properties that are being foreclosed upon by the banks because owners did not pay their mortgage payments.

2,000 "zombie" properties represents a whopping 10% of all properties in the city.


Then there are the hundreds of properties THIS ONE YEAR ALONE that are BEING foreclosed upon by the city because the owners did not pay their tax payments -- this group can include the following:
1.  Owners whose mortgage has long since been paid off but they cannot afford to pay their own property taxes PLUE the taxes of the downtown millionaire political cronies of the dems
2.  Owners who have mortgages BUT whose banks do not require tax payments to be paid into escrow; thus the owners may be totally current on their mortgage payments but are not current on their taxes (because hey cannot afford to pay their own taxes PLUS the tax of the downtown properties owned by the millionaire political cronies of the dems.


Then thee are the hundreds of properties which have been foreclosed upon by the city in previous years   (that is years PLURAL) for non payment of taxes.  Again, this group can fall into either of those categories in the above paragraph.


Then there are the hundreds, or perhaps more than a thousand, of abandoned properties, possibly not yet at the tax foreclosure level and were paid up.  This can also include people who have tried to sell their house (perhaps they want to move to a different school district, maybe elderly who moved into apartments, empty nesters that wanted to downsize, and a long list of other possibilities including the FACT that taxes in Schenectady are among the highest in the whole U.S.) but their house has not sold because very few people are wiling to move INTO the city.  Some of these people may have mortgages, have stopped making mortgage payments, but the non-payment has not yet risen to the bank foreclosure level - foreclosures DO take at least a year before they become bank owned.

And how about the hundreds of properties that have no mortgage, are delinquent in taxes but the delinquency has not yet hit the time frame threshold for the city to initiated tax foreclosure proceedings?    But the owners have left.



And yet the city is spending taxpayers money to build more residential units, despite an over abundance of EXISTING VACANT properties.   But this DUMB CLUELESS mayor does NOT have a brain in his skull!  STOP the building of apartments in the downtown area and use that money to fix up these existing vacant homes; and take  way the tax exemptions of your rich political cronies and reduce the taxes on the homeowners.  Also STOP spending taxpayers' money on building or remodeling existing buildings for wealthy property owners like Galesi and STOP using taxpayers' money for UNNECESSARY FANCY lampposts downtown and unnecessary redoing of streets like Erie Blvd and instead use that money to fix the roads where the people live.  Start providing services that have been cut.   Then houses may sell and property values will increase.   The dem leadership won't do that.

Imagine what the total of vacant buildings really is  

zombies???   we need BRAINS......SEND MORE BRAINS.........

the ones here in charge are clueless

zombie.....hahahahahaha,,,,that's just a funny term......