Have you seen the 'Zombie Houses' of the Capital Region? Take a 15-minute drive through Albany, Schenectady or Troy and you will see these once proud structures boarded up, abandoned and vacant.

Today Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy announced that the three cities have joined forces to do something about the empty eyesores of the Capital Region. According to CBS6 Albany, the three municipalities have teamed to file 18 different lawsuits!

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Using New York's Zombie Property Law, which imposes a duty to inspect, secure and maintain vacant and abandoned properties on mortgagees or their servicing agents, representatives from each of the three cities have filed lawsuits against Ocwen Financial Corporation and PHH Mortgage. According to CBS6 Albany, the Zombie Law also gives towns and cities the ability to sue mortgage servicers for $500 per code violation per day the code violation exists.

Excellent work by Mayor Sheehan, Mayor Madden, and the town of Schenectady to address blight in our communities and create accountability. I proudly cosponsored and voted for the Zombie Property Remediation Act of 2019 that authorized municipalities to move forward with these efforts. - John T. McDonald III, former Mayor of Cohoes

Zombie properties are plaguing communities all across our state, driving down property values and burdening our taxpayers, By making it easier for local municipalities to deal with these abandoned and unmaintained properties, we are helping to preserve homes and protect the quality of life in our neighborhoods. - Governor Cuomo

 

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