Slumlords beware.
Senator Tim Kennedy and Assemblyman Sean Ryan have proposed legislation that will help neighborhoods fight the ongoing battle against blighted properties and their troublesome owners. For the first time said property owners will be on the hook for bringing the rest of the neighborhood down. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire too. Once you identify properties that look unsightly, chances are that the issues are compounded with illicit activities. By combatting the blight, Kennedy and Ryan are also taking a swing at ancillary crime.
In order to enhance the bill, legit property owners will be given access to weatherization and home-repair programs. Hopefully that will mean less vinyl siding – can we include that in the bill? The bill came about in response to distress calls sent out by an initiative that is already underway in Buffalo called Project Slumlord (see here). The new state effort will give Project Slumlord the teeth that it needs to combat the problem beyond a grassroots level.
“Across Western New York, dedicated homeowners are united behind the cause of addressing the problem of absentee landlords whose negligence and dilapidated properties are blighting our neighborhoods,” said Senator Tim Kennedy. “Throughout our region, a renewed sense of pride is taking hold of our communities as entire streets and neighborhoods are transformed. However, we still have slumlords to deal with, and their blighted properties are tarnishing our communities and bringing down the values of surrounding homes. Western New Yorkers take pride in their homes and neighborhoods, and it’s time for Albany to arm our towns and cities with new tools to crack down on absentee landlords and strengthen communities. By working together at the state and local level, we will ensure slumlords are no longer allowed to stand in the way of community revitalization.”
Assemblyman Sean Ryan said, “We have great neighborhoods throughout the City of Buffalo and Western New York, and we have many great leaders who love their communities and want to see vibrant and growing neighborhoods. But they know that absentee property owners are often holding back the progress that so many are seeking and working diligently towards. Efforts to revitalize the West Side are happening every day, and local elected leaders, community activists, and community organizations are constantly hitting stumbling blocks when they try to deal with neglectful and absentee property owners. Our common sense reform would allow municipalities to hold these individuals accountable and allow our neighborhoods to prosper and thrive.”
Help at the City level comes from Councilmembers Rich Fontana and Chris Scanlon who recently proposed a resolution to treat unpaid fines for housing violations as if they were delinquent property taxes. Once again, the issues of the past revolved mainly around the effectiveness of mounting fines that acted merely as a slap on the wrist (if that). Now there’s some gumption to get the property owners off their butts to fix the issues, or sell the properties in question. Building-code or property-maintenance violations would be treated as tax liens on non-owner-occupied homes. The liens could lead to foreclosure if not addressed.
In the past, problems have also been compounded by the City’s ability to take action against slumlords due to their ability to hide their identities behind limited liability corporations (LLCs). If the parties live outside of the city or the state, then the problem is exacerbated – remember Saint Mary’s on the Hill? Well, if this bill had come about earlier, we might not be looking at another fugly parking lot on Niagara Street. You can thank the City for that one.
To add to the success of the measure, unclaimed funds (foreclosures sold at in-rem auctions) collected under the bill would remain in City coffers, rather than being sent to Albany. The collected funds would go toward the earlier mentioned home improvement initiatives.
“Essentially, this legislative effort seeks to reverse the trajectory of a negative cycle of blight and decline that has hit Buffalo hard, and convert it into a positive cycle of absentee-landlord accountability and neighborhood improvement and development,” Kennedy said.
Patty McDonald of Buffalo’s Project Slumlord, said, “I’m proud to stand with Senator Kennedy and Assemblyman Ryan to hold slumlords accountable for the blight that they bring to our neighborhood. Slumlords enjoy easy profits by collecting rent for substandard housing while the city spends tens of thousands of dollars responding to 311 and 911 calls to their blighted properties. The legislation proposed by Senator Kennedy, along with the city legislation proposed by Council Members Fontana and Scanlon, will take the profit out of being a slumlord. The cost of blight will come out of the slumlord’s pocket, and the funds collected will go towards revitalizing our housing stock for the homeowners and tenants who see a bright future for Buffalo neighborhoods.”
With the cooperation of Council President Darius Pridgen, Project Slumlord has also become a City initiative, which will help to create a multi-tiered approach when it comes to providing the necessary tools needed to move forward.
Pridgen said, “Slumlords should be take note as the City of Buffalo and the State move forward to protect neighborhoods and penalize landlords who ignore their responsibilities. I am ecstatic that Senator Kennedy and Assemblyman Ryan would press for the State of New York to join the City of Buffalo in its fight against irresponsible landlords that ignore their responsibilities and destroy neighborhoods.”
Finally, these reforms will go hand-in-hand with other anti-blight measures, such as one that Kennedy proposed last year. Kennedy feels that the banks need to be held responsible for the “zombie houses” that they have acquired through foreclosures.
Kennedy proposed last year to hold banks accountable for zombie houses, or properties abandoned by their owners after banks commence foreclosure proceedings. The banks and their executives would be subjected to fines and criminal penalties, just like everybody else (now how’s that for smarts?). The class B misdemeanor charge – Criminal Negligence of Vacant Property in Foreclosure Proceedings – would constitute a $10,000 fine or up to three months in prison. Hallelujah!