Along with vacant property registration ordinances, Land Banks are one of the more widely used tools in the fight against blight. Now, class action lawsuit have been filed by former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann,READ MORE
New York State A07190 LLC Ownership Information Disclosure
In New York State, A07190 was signed by the Governor on September 13th. As New York State Assemblyman John T. McDonald III writes in The TimesUnion this bill is “an important tool in fighting blightREAD MORE
Successful “Greening” in Chicago
In a comprehensive report, the Chicago Sun Times focuses on an increasingly popular approach to decreasing violence, often referred to as “greening”. “The city is spending millions to beautify the public spaces where shootings areREAD MORE
GAO Report on Reverse Mortgages
On September 25th, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), often called the “congressional watchdog,” issued a report on reverse mortgages. Reverse mortgages allow seniors to convert part of their home equity into payments from aREAD MORE
Governing Magazine “Addicted to Fines”
Last month, Governing Magazine issued a report titled “Addicted to Fines” The article discusses a large scale analysis of fine revenues to date, constructing a database from thousands of annual financial audits and reports filedREAD MORE
Baltimore Vacant Properties, is Public Shaming the Answer?
In a recent Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun, Peter Duvall, community revitalization coordinator for Strong City Baltimore discussed new legislation being proposed by Councilman Kris Burnett. This legislation would “target the hard-to-track owners of vacantREAD MORE
New York Legislation Update
New York Legislative Update In August, we reported on S5079A Zombie Property Remediation Act of 2019, while it awaits the Governor’s signature (or veto) a recent editorial in the Daily Gazette suggests that the “GovernorREAD MORE
Interesting Headline – “Mayor calls upkeep of vacant homes waste of taxpayer money”
On August 19th, the Corpus Christi Caller Times ran a report titled “Mayor calls upkeep of vacant homes waste of taxpayer money”. It appears that he spoke out of a valid frustration of having toREAD MORE
New Jersey “Foreclosure Database” & “Land Bank Law”
Foreclosure Database Following a conditional veto, on June 24th, Governor Phil Murphy signed A5000 into law. A5000 orders the Department of Community Affairs to create a statewide database of all homes under foreclosure as aREAD MORE
NLC Municipal Action Guide Managing Foreclosures and Vacant Properties
In 2012 In order to help city leaders engage in foreclosure prevention efforts, NLC’s Center for Research and Innovation created “Managing Foreclosures and Vacant Properties, a Municipal Action Guide” that includes strategies for preventing vacancy,READ MORE
Permit Denial Ordinance
A recent article in the Morning Call, discusses a new anti-blight ordinance passed in June 2019. Alicia Miller Karner, city director of community and economic development said “the city will be modifying its permit applications,READ MORE
Kansas City, Mo Abandoned to Vibrant Project
The Abandoned to Vacant (A2V) project, a collaboration between Kansas City, MO and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, uses open data to map abandoned houses and give potential buyers a sense of the surrounding neighborhood.READ MORE