Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich announces early successes in the recently passed Zombie Property Legislation that was adopted by the Greece Town Board on April 18th of this year. Since its adoption and implementation, the Town of Greece has received over two million dollars in both bonds and letters of credit towards the continued maintenance and care of these vacant and abandoned homes.
“On April 18th of the year, the Town of Greece took the necessary steps in passing one of the most aggressive pieces of legislation throughout the state on the topic of zombie properties. Since then, I am pleased to announce that the Town has received two million dollars in both bonds and letters of credit on these vacant structures towards the continued maintenance and care of these deteriorating homes.” said Supervisor Reilich. “A bulldozer should be the last resort when dealing with these structures. In order to create vibrant neighborhoods we must maintain and in turn make these homes into livable spaces for potential families. In light of the recent success of this legislation, the Town is in the process of installing new roofs on three vacant structure and we are prepared for additional improvements as they come in.”
The recently adopted Vacant and Defaulted Mortgage Property Registry provision takes the issue of dealing with vacant and abandoned properties one step further. The new ordinance requires banks or lenders who commence a foreclosure proceeding in the Town to give prompt notice and provide a cash bond or letter of credit in the amount of $10,000, to secure the continued maintenance and safety of the property. Additionally, this ordinance creates increased penalties for owners of vacant and abandoned structures that are repeatedly noncompliant with the existing Property Maintenance Code and would require owners to provide notice of such vacancy and up-to-date contact information.