By Eugene Lowe and Jocelyn Bogen
June 29, 2009

The Vacant and Abandoned Property Task Force reviewed the 2009 Survey on Vacant and Abandoned Properties on June 14 and learned how Green Bay, St. Louis and Chicago are implementing strategies to restore properties to productive use.

This installment is the third in the Conference of Mayors' series of reports on vacant and abandoned properties on the efforts being made by mayors across the nation to minimize the problems that vacant and abandoned properties are creating, and to restore these properties to productive use as homes and businesses. The survey was completed by 60 cities and shows that very few have escaped higher numbers of vacant and abandoned properties during the last year as a result of the nation's mortgage foreclosure crisis. Last year's survey by the Conference found that 71 percent of the cities had seen increases in vacant and abandoned properties. This year that number jumped to 93 percent.

Last year's survey found that the mortgage crisis had affected the ability of over half of the cities to manage their property problems. This year that number jumps to 83 percent.Most of the survey cities described their use of HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). Nearly three-fourths of these cities are receiving NSP funds through the first round of the program.

York (PA) Mayor John S. Brenner, Chair of the Conference's Task Force on Vacant and Abandoned Properties, says that the NSP funds have been helpful, as far as they go, but "four of five survey cities are reporting that the resources available through the NSP or other sources have not been sufficient to address the problems caused by foreclosures." Brenner said that, with 86 percent of the survey cities planning to apply for the second round of NSP funds, which are being provided through the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, "it's obvious that mayors aren't passing on any opportunities to get help with these problems."

Green Bay Mayor James J. Schmitt. Mayor Schmitt presented the Green Bay Neighborhood Enhancement Fund which was created in 1999 to enable the City to deal with blighted properties. To date, $7.5 million borrowed from the State Trust Fund have been allocated to the acquisition of 102 properties which were demolished to create green space and additional park space, or were made available for new single-family construction. The number of properties currently in foreclosure has made it possible for the city to stretch its Neighborhood Enhancement Funds. Through these efforts, blocks have been transformed from blighted multi-family housing strips to newly-remodeled single-family owner-occupied houses.

St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay briefed the Task Force on his city's Neighborhood Life Initiative which was created to revitalize, promote, and sustain city neighborhoods and drive revitalization efforts. At the core of the Neighborhood Life Initiative is the Problem Properties Unit, a group of attorneys and other personnel in the city's law department solely dedicated to solving city neighborhood property problems. Also included is a Problem Property Court, dedicated to cases of derelict, often vacant, properties, with a Judge solely committed to it. In contrast to a traditional housing court, punitive monetary fines assessed against property owners are not the focus; instead, the property's condition is addressed. The goals are restoration and/or sale of properties, which are the best outcomes for the city in its efforts to overcome the effects of vacant properties and returning the properties to the tax rolls and in productive use.

Ellen Sahli, Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Department of Housing, gave a presentation on Chicago's comprehensive strategy to address troubled and vacant buildings. Chicago has recognized the impact that vacant buildings have on neighborhoods and has worked to prevent foreclosures and abandoned properties. Continued goals are to prevent foreclosures, ensure owners maintain existing vacant properties, and return vacant properties to use as viable housing stock, instead of watching them fall into disrepair. One of the strategies used is the Homeownership Preservation Initiative (HOPI), the city and its partners have prevented more than 2,000 foreclosures, provided financial counseling to more than 12,000 homeowners, and reclaimed more than 550 vacant and abandoned buildings. The first partnership of its kind, HOPI has served as a national model. Building on it, the city continues to implement a variety of foreclosure prevention initiatives, including:

The final speaker Robert Klein, CEO of Safeguard Properties gave an overview of Safeguard Properties, the largest privately held mortgage field services company which provides inspection, property preservation and maintenance services on defaulted and foreclosed properties in all 50 states.

The report containing both the survey results and the Best Practices is available on the Conference of Mayors website at: http://usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/VACANTANDABANDPROP09.pdf.