Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced that in the next few weeks he will resubmit a bill that calls for lenders to take responsibility for what he calls 'Zombie homes', properties abandoned by home owners during foreclosure proceedings. According to the Hudson Valley News Network the Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act seeks to relieve the number of properties that fall into disrepair by educating homeowners of their rights. Many property owners leave their homes before or during foreclosure proceedings prematurely, not knowing they have the right to stay until a court orders them to leave. Which can take several months, even years! I know because a family member did exactly this, left the house because they were concerned about being "kicked out" and bam...here we are 8 years later and the house just sits there, uninhabited! Imagine being able to stay in your home for this time, image how many homes would still be maintained and not become a burden to the community. That's exactly what the bill is looking to alleviate.

“Leaving zombie properties to rot is unfair to municipalities and unfair to neighbors, who pay their taxes and maintain their homes,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “In the next two weeks, my office will resubmit to the Legislature our bill that would require banks to take responsibility for maintaining properties much earlier in the foreclosure process, take that burden off of towns and cities, and allow local governments to more easily identify the mortgagees of these properties to make sure they maintain them. And as my office enforces the requirement that banks take responsibility for these properties, any fines we levy will go into a fund to help towns and cities hire more code enforcement officers.”

If you or someone you know is in danger of loosing their home and needs assistance you're encouraged to call the Attorney General’s statewide foreclosure hotline at 855-HOME-456 and visit www.AGHomeHelp.com

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