Following is a transcript of the last question posed during the Q&A segment (emphasis added) of a recent webinar presented by the Center for Community Progress and Senior Fellow (also , formerly nonresident Senior Fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution and formerly visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.) Alan Mallach, titled “After the Emergency: What’s Next for Middle Neighborhoods”
Q: Can you speak to VPROs, vacant property registration ordinances and whether they will be helpful if we start to see both residential and commercial foreclosures?
A: I think, absolutely. A municipality that has an effective vacant property registry, effective meaning they actually do have their properties registered as distinct from simply having a paper ordinance, is in a good position to get ahead of the game. A municipality that can get access to data on foreclosures in real time, is definitely going to be in a good position. This goes back to some of the issues that were very big 10 years ago when we were seeing a wave of foreclosures making sure that when a property is foreclosed, or is in foreclosure and is vacated by the owner, that they identify the lender and hold the lender accountable, I think is another big issue.
In many respects, the better the municipality was at laying the groundwork for dealing with vacant properties before the crisis, the better they are going to be able to deal with what is coming down the pike.
Now is the time to implement a VPR program and/or maximize the efficiencies of your existing program.
For more information please email me at [email protected] or reply to this email.
To view the webinar in its entirety, please click here.
(VPR Q&A commences at 56:50)