Photo Courtesy of the State Attorney General’s Office
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
By Forum Staff
New York City is set to receive $350,000 in grant funding from State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s Office to help the five boroughs continue to tackle the problem of defunct properties and so-called “zombie homes” –
vacant and abandoned houses that are not maintained during a prolonged foreclosure proceeding.
Schneiderman recently announced grant awards totaling $12.6 million to aid 76 cities, towns, and villages across the state address zombie properties.
The grants were awarded under the Zombie Remediation and Prevention Initiative, which Schneiderman established in July with funds drawn from the $3.2 billion settlement agreement with Morgan Stanley that the attorney general, as co-chair of the federal-state working group on residential-mortgage-based securities, negotiated in February. That settlement generated $550 million in cash and consumer relief for New Yorkers, according to Schneiderman.
“Too many homeowners across New York are still struggling to rebuild their communities in the wake of the housing crisis caused by major banks,” he said. “I’m proud that the funding obtained by my office’s settlement with Morgan Stanley will now help cities and towns across the state reverse the proliferation of zombie properties, which invite crime and threaten the value of surrounding homes. These grants will help rebuild, revitalize, and stabilize communities across the state.”
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a national community development intermediary that specializes in affordable housing, economic development, and community revitalization, is overseeing the initiative; selected the grantees; and will be providing technical assistance to the funded municipalities as they implement their plans, Schneiderman said.
The money will address housing vacancy and blight by bolstering municipalities’ capacity for housing code enforcement, for tracking and monitoring vacant properties, and for legal enforcement capacity to ensure banks and mortgage companies comply with local and state law, according to the AG’s Office.
The initiative coincides with the June 2016 passage of the Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act, a bill written by Schneiderman. Among other provisions, the law requires banks to register any properties abandoned by their owners with the Department of Financial Services and to maintain those properties during the foreclosure process, and not just once the process has been completed. Banks face significant fines for non-compliance. The State will share the registry with localities and will run a toll-free hotline for individuals to report such properties, Schneiderman said.
Grants ranged from $52,500 to $350,000, and were awarded to municipalities as large as New York City, with a population of 8.5 million and an estimated 9,692 vacant properties, and the Town of Hempstead, with a population of 760,000 and an estimated 1,286 vacant properties; and as small as the Town of Ticonderoga, with a population of 5,042 and an estimated 104 vacant properties, the attorney general noted.
Municipalities with populations of at least 5,000 residents and at least 100 vacant and abandoned properties were invited to apply for the funds through a competitive application process. Funding decisions were based on the following criteria: the number of abandoned properties within the municipality; the proportion of such properties compared to the overall size of the municipality; its level of general economic distress; and its demonstrated interest in addressing the problem of housing vacancy and blight, Schneiderman said. In total, 108 municipalities were invited to apply for funding; 76 submitted proposals; and all were awarded grants.
