By Paul Tuthill
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-977266.mp3
Springfield, MA – The foreclosure crisis has affected more than just the people who lost their homes. Neighborhoods have had to deal with the aftermath. Municipalities have been burdened with the costs of maintaining vacant bank owned properties. Housing advocates in Springfield Massachusetts are promoting what they see as a solution to the problem.. WAMC"s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.
A proposed local ordinance would require banks to register foreclosed properties with Springfield city officials and post a ten thousand dollar bond with each foreclosure to help cover the costs of securing and maintaining vacant properties. The lead sponsor of the ordinance, City Councilor Amaad Rivera hopes to bring it up for a vote Monday.
The ordinance also creates a mandatory mediation program in an effort to avoid foreclosures.
Malcolm Chu, of Springfield No One Leaves, an advocacy group for affordable housing and tenants rights says the Springfield ordinance contains elements of local laws and initiatives from both Boston and Worcester.
Chu said it can cost up to 19 thousand dollars to secure and maintain a foreclosed property according to national estimates. Local research by the activists has identified more than 300 bank owned properties in Springfield with roughly two thirds are vacant.
To publicize the proposed ordinance, the housing activists held a tour Tuesday of three vacant bank owned homes in different neighborhoods At each stop in front of houses with boarded up windows and overgrown grass and bushes, they highlighted the impact the blight can have on neighbor's property values and crime.
Russell Seelig who lives in the Forest Park Neighborhood says vacant bank owned homes frequently turn into trash dumps.
Beetrice Jebrey lives two doors down from a vacant bank owned house in the Mason Square Neighborhood.
Springfield last year had the highest number of foreclosures of any city in the state. It qualified the city for millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds for a program to buy foreclosed homes and fix up the places to go back on the market. Or, demolish the houses and build new on the vacant lots.