New York came up with how to solve the problem of 'zombie houses'

New York State has at least 2 000 abandoned and destroyed houses. They plan to repair and return to the market as affordable housing. This publication writes Curbed.

Mortgage crisis

In 2007, a mortgage crisis first hit New York City. In the same year, about 18 000 applications for foreclosure were submitted, which makes up more than half of the total number of applications filed by the state.

Although it was over ten years ago, the city has not yet fully recovered from the crisis. So, in 2016, there was a significant surge in the number of cases of seizure of housing on bail, especially in Brooklyn and Queens.

As a result of the crisis, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), in New York there are at least 2000 abandoned and destroyed houses. Especially a lot of such real estate in the areas of Central Brooklyn, the southeastern part of the island of Statens, as well as in some areas of the Bronx.

This property, which HPD calls “zombie houses,” often falls into disrepair when property owners delay payments on mortgages.

In addition, over time, such houses attract homeless people, and can also be crowded with rodents and garbage. So, just last week, three people died in a fire in an abandoned property in Queens.

Solving the problem of abandoned houses

To prevent the alienation of these houses and the destruction of "zombie property", the state legislature in 2016 adopted a package of laws requiring lenders to inspect, maintain "zombie houses" and report them to the state.

To help the state, in the fall of 2017, the police launched an initiative Zombie Homes Initiative... Its goal is to track and identify these objects, conduct their external survey and create new approaches to "return zombie homes to productive use."

Affordable Housing

One such possible productive use is affordable housing, which New York City desperately needs in the face of a crisis of homelessness and affordability.

"There should be no vacant and abandoned homes in a city experiencing a housing affordability crisis," said a spokesman for the NYC Neighborhood Center, which advises police on transforming these properties.

He said such facilities should be repaired and returned to the market as affordable housing for New York families.

On the subject: Immigrant guide: how to rent affordable housing in New York

Following the adoption of the Zombie State Act in 2016, cities throughout New York State have already begun using grants from organizations such as LISC. They use these grants to repurpose properties and provide property ownership opportunities to moderate-income individuals and novice home buyers.

A similar approach can be applied in New York, the source said.

“With so many families struggling to find affordable housing, we cannot afford these vacant, destroyed homes that pose a threat to our communities,” said HPD Police spokesman Matthew Cregan. "Zombie Homes City is working to determine where these facilities are and take steps to get them back on track."

To this end, he said, dozens of real estate were sent to court. The organization also applied for hundreds of thousands of dollars to the owners of mortgages who could not keep their property.

“Our next step is to find ways to make these homes again housing options for New Yorkers,” Cregan said.