Banks must deal with abandoned houses

The South Shore of Long Island is dotted with thousands of abandoned homes, left in deplorable condition, and forming blight on the community. Now New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wants to resubmit an expanded version of a bill he proposed last year that would address the growing problem of these “zombie properties.”

If enacted, the law would require mortgage lenders to inform homeowners of their right to stay in a house until a court orders them to leave. Lenders would have to identify and maintain abandoned properties earlier. In addition it would create a registry of properties. Finally, any fines levied against banks and other lenders for noncompliance would be directed to a fund for local governments to hire additional code enforcement officers.

“Leaving zombie properties to rot is unfair to municipalities and unfair to neighbors, who pay their taxes and maintain their homes,” said Schneiderman. “In the next two weeks, my office will resubmit to the Legislature our bill that would require banks to take responsibility for maintaining properties much earlier in the foreclosure process, take that burden off of towns and cities.” He added, “As my office enforces the requirement that banks take responsibility for these properties, any fines we levy will go into a fund to help towns and cities hire more code enforcement officers.”

“It will help to improve the neighborhood,” said Mayor Michael McGinty, who added, “The timing is good. Island Park is just strengthening our building codes, adding a building department and working on our own to clean up these abandoned properties. To some extent it might enable us to enforce our laws and get properties cleaned up faster and more efficiently.” He explained at the Feb. 19 village board meeting that there are legal ramifications to cleaning up properties. It is a lengthy process, and banks are not always responsive.