Zombie Homes and Vacant Building Enforcement

Rebecca Sinclair, Deputy Chief of Staff Office of the Supervisor, Town of Hempstead

New York State Abandoned Property Relief Act of June 2016 Enacted to facilitate earlier detection and maintenance of vacant and abandoned residential properties as well as: • Expand the existing duty of a mortgagee to maintain vacant residential real property to include "pre-foreclosure" vacant properties; • Require periodic inspections to determine whether properties secured by a delinquent mortgage have actually been abandoned; • Allow localities and the Attorney General to enforce the maintenance of property requirements; and • Create a statewide registry for abandoned residential property under the supervision of the state Attorney General and a toll-free hotline for community residents to report the presence of such properties

Town of Hempstead Vacant Property Ordinances • Town of Hempstead Chapter 128 Garbage and Rubbish Article V. Maintenance of Premises 128-61.1. Foreclosures; undertaking (Adopted 6.6.16) •

Managed by the Sanitation Department

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Attempt to capture funds from foreclosing entity to maintain the property during foreclosure and potential vacancy.

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15 mortgagees have complied from adoption to date

• Town of Hempstead Chapter 99 Article I. Vacant Building Registry (Adopted 10.18.16) •

Managed by the Building Department

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Seeks to capture entire universe of vacant buildings and capture funds to not just maintain but also secure through board up and utility disconnects.

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397 vacant buildings registered to date

Town of Hempstead Chapter 128 Garbage and Rubbish Article V. Maintenance of Premises 128-61.1. Foreclosures; undertaking (Adopted 6.6.16) • Places the financial burden for property maintenance on any person, business, organization, bank or lender who commences a foreclosure action against any vacant residential property in the Town of Hempstead, and requires them to deposit funds with the Town after the foreclosure action is commenced, and up until conclusion.

• $25,000 bond is required for residential properties, $35,000 for commercial properties.

• It is unlawful for any such person, business, organization, bank or lender to fail to properly deposit such cash, a cash bond, or a letter of credit within 45 calendar days after the foreclosure action is commenced •

The goal is to achieve prompt remediation of overgrown grass, weeds and rubbish when they occur on a vacant property, and help avoid substantial outlays of public funds in accomplishing same.

Town of Hempstead Chapter 99 Article I. Vacant Building Registry (Adopted 10.18.16) • The purpose of this article is to establish a program for identifying and registering vacant buildings; to determine the responsibilities of owners of vacant buildings and structures; and to speed the rehabilitation of the vacant properties.

• The owner shall register with the Department of Buildings not later than 30 days after any building in the Town of Hempstead becomes a vacant building or not later than 30 days after being notified by the Department of Buildings of the requirement to register.

• The Building Department may identify vacant buildings through its routine inspection process as well as through notification by residents, neighborhood associations and other community groups that a building may be eligible for inclusion on the registry.

• $25,000 bond is required for residential properties, $35,000 for commercial properties, this is satisfied by Article 128 if a bond was already provided.

Vacant Building Definition VACANT BUILDING A building or portion of a building which is: A. Unoccupied and unsecured; B. Unoccupied and secured by other than normal means;

C. Unoccupied and an unsafe building as determined by the Department of Buildings; D. Unoccupied and has multiple housing or building code violations; E. Illegally occupied; F. Unoccupied for a period of time over 365 days, and during which time the enforcement officer has issued an order to correct code violations.

DFS Registry Data • Currently 702 mortgages actively in foreclosure • 50 different servicers/lenders, over 75 different POCs provided, most are generic email addresses with no specific contact person • We believe actual count of properties in foreclosure to be much (very much) more expansive

The Volume and Cost of Maintenance • Sanitation handles grass cutting and debris removal •

In 2017 over 1,900 properties were cut and cleaned by Sanitation, the department also received over 5,600 complaints

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The total cost, which is then levied back against the property owner for this service in 2017 was $1.5 M

• The Building Department makes a declaration of “imminent danger” and authorizes a special assessment to secure (board up), performs utility disconnects, and in many cases demolition •

1095 special assessments from January 2017 to today

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831 properties boarded up in 2017, total expense of $267,000

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39 demolitions authorized in 2017, demolition costs range between $25,000 and $60,000 before required asbestos remediation

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4,000 hours of code enforcement dedicated to vacant buildings annually

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The 2018 Town budget for unsafe buildings is $1,050,000

What’s falling through the cracks? • Currently deployed data management systems for reporting; complaints, enforcement actions, vacancy status, foreclosure commencement, and issue close out do not speak to one another OR provide predictive analytics. • Example - Currently; a vacant building is reported to sanitation because of an overgrown lawn and debris, there is no flag into the building department to have them inspect the home. Sanitation deploys a crew to cut and clean, and fee is levied against the property. Loop closed.

How do we close the loop between ordinances, enforcement, and resource allocation?

Coordinating data, inspections, and close out. • Deploying an integrated system that gives each involved department access, legacy data, and real-time reporting will ease the burden of enforcement by creating efficiencies, saving money, and providing a better customer experience to constituents. • Example - A vacant building is reported to sanitation for overgrowth and debris. The address is put into a database where it will be cross checked with the DFS Foreclosure Registry, the Building Department’s database for complaints/open permits/violations, a ticket is generated for a code enforcement officer to inspect and determine if the building is truly vacant. Sanitation can still cut and clean, but there is now one record for action against the property, and pending the outcome of the inspection the building may register per Chapter 99, allowing the bond to be drawn against for future maintenance.

Proposed Building Department Operations Overhaul • In May of 2018 the Town issued a request for proposals (RFP) for an independent consultant to optimize the operations of the Town’s Building Department and look at the overall department, workspace, staffing, and current systems used, and see where greater efficiencies can be created • The Town’s building department processes, on average, over 9,000 applications each year for new and existing homes, and is the first line of defense for property owners when it comes to safety code compliance. The Department also processes 7,000 permits required for plumbing work • This review would help identify ways in which technology, automation, mapping, and real time data capturing can further modernize the operation, making the enforcement and permitting process seamless and safety standards transparent.

Proposed Registry Legislation In April of 2018 the Supervisor’s Office proposed to amend Chapter 128-61.1 and Chapter 99 A LOCAL LAW AMENDING CHAPTER 99 OF THE CODE OF THE TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD ENTITLED “REGISTRATION AND PERMITTING OF PROPERTY” AND CHAPTER 128 OF CODE OF THE TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD ENTITLED “GARBAGE AND RUBBISH”.

It is the purpose and intent of the Town Board to establish a process to limit and reduce the amount of deteriorating properties located within the Town when a property is subject to a mortgage which is in default or has been foreclosed upon, by establishing a defaulted mortgage registration program as a mechanism to protect neighborhoods from becoming blighted through the lack of adequate maintenance and security of abandoned properties. The registration required under this article shall be an additional remedy available to the Town above and beyond any other state, county and/or town provisions.

Registry Legislation • Requires a $500 bi-annual registry with the Town by the foreclosing entity • Registry data will include; mortgagee contact, servicer contact, maintenance company contract

• Registry will follow through after the foreclosure, when the mortgagee takes title, and requires them to keep data current until the property in resold (no longer REO) • Registry could be maintained by a third party as a subscription service; web-based interactive data platform with GIS capabilities • Annual registry fees pay for the third party support and additional code enforcement officers and homeowner support programs • In conversations with third-party vendors, they estimate the total universe of foreclosures and REO owned properties to be over 5,600

How do we prevent the zombie apocalypse? • Other municipalities, like the Town of Babylon and Long Beach, have recently adopted legislation to engage a third party to collect and manage data on foreclosures and vacant buildings. In general they have seen and increase in compliance, and fees generated that cover the cost of code enforcement operations. • We need to continue to push for modernization of Town departments, and for integration of software solutions so that we can craft informed policies and execute enforcement in a holistic way.

Rebecca Sinclair Deputy Chief of Staff Office of Supervisor Gillen

Town of Hempstead One Washington Street, Hempstead 11550 (516) 874 – 8590

rebesin@tohmail.org