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
National League of Cities “Housing Market Conditions Across America’s Cities”
On September 10th, the National League of Cities issued a report titled “Housing Market Conditions Across America’s Cities” In this report, every medium and large city in America was analyzed, and includes tailored recommendations for strengtheningREAD MORE
Still a Valid Solution
Plywood was a pet peeve of my late father-in-law, Robert Klein. This “temporary” solution often became permanent resulting in the deterioration of individual streets and sometimes entire neighborhoods. This led him to found Secureview andREAD MORE
Universities of Boston and Stanford Paper: “How Do Foreclosures Exacerbate Housing Downturns?”
As discussed in a recent article from MarketWatch, “A new working paper authored by researchers at Boston University and Stanford University investigates the ways in which foreclosures exacerbate a housing bust and reduce prices for non-distressed homes.READ 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
Legal Challenge to Omaha Ordinance
The Metropolitan Omaha Property Owners Association sued the city, the Mayor and several other city officials, calling the Vacant and Abandoned Property Ordinance “unconstitutional.” The claim “centers around a 2015 consent decree that was partREAD 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