Blighted, abandoned properties in Hornell, N.Y., are not only in-check, according to officials, but they're declining at a rapid pace.
At a recent Board of Public Safety meeting, Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan delivered the news.
Late last year, the city received a state grant to catalog and track trouble properties, and it's been quite effective.
Handled by the codes office, at the time, 37 "zombie" properties that were abandoned by the occupant and left in the hands of mortgage holders were identified.
"As of now, we've taken care of 19 of those," Hogan said, or 51 percent of them.
Director of Facilities Management and Neighborhood Revitalization Bud Burdett outlined their progress.
"We've been working with some of the banks for the ones in foreclosure, some of the landlords, we've worked with them and they've gotten their properties back," he said.
Codes Officer Larry Bacon has been elevated from part-time status with the codes office to full time for one year to help manage zombie property outreach.
Additionally, the codes office is getting upgraded software and tablets to help track properties.
However, the process remains an uphill battle.
"It's a slow process dealing with some of these banks and getting the properties taken care of," he said, but the codes office has been persistent.
In addition to holding banks responsible for caring for vacant and unmaintained properties, the City of Hornell is seeking to educate residents on their rights and the avenues they can take to stave off foreclosure.
To achieve both ends, the city has pushed to have counseling services provided locally and will be ramping up the public awareness campaign in the coming weeks. Information will soon be available on the city website and through several non-profit organizations. Currently, counseling is provided through the New York State Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP), by Arbor Development every Wednesday afternoon, from noon to 4:30 p.m. at City Hall.
"We'll also be doing a help line, so if people get a notice from the bank saying they're in foreclosure due to back payments, there will be a number they can call to get them through the process," Burdett said.
The tax foreclosure process can take between two and three years before a home will go on the auction block.
"This program can also help people with a no-interest loan to pay their taxes until the house is transferred or sold," Hogan said.
However, the application process can take up to five months.
"If people have an inkling that they will be involved in a bank foreclosure, there is help available," Hogan said.
The counseling services and the helpline are both confidential processes.
The programs are available for people facing both tax and bank foreclosure and to anyone living in the region, not just Hornell residents.
Hogan said that helping people stay in their homes was a positive step for the community and banks alike.
"It behooves the community and it behooves the lending institutions to avoid foreclosure, because no one wins. It's more important to keep people in their houses," he said.
"If we can keep people in their homes, from our end on the property maintenance issues, the house isn't just sitting there and deteriorating," Burdett agreed.
Local Initiatives Support Corp., administrators of the grant program even expressed their pleasure with the city's progress on the issue.
"They were impressed that we had identified the 37 properties and had already resolved more than 50 percent of them," Hogan said. "Kudos to Buddy (Burdett) and Larry Bacon for putting the pedal to the metal on that."
