Cities grapple with surge in abandoned homes

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Cities grapple with surge in abandoned homes
Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:17pm EDT

By Jason Szep

WORCESTER, Massachusetts (Reuters) - On Lagrange Street
in New England's second-largest city, two brick apartment
buildings stand side-by-side in varying stages of decay --
boarded up, "No Trespassing" signs affixed, paint pealing.

Across the street, a condominium complex is on the brink.
Three of its eight apartments are in foreclosure.

Like many cities in the United States where the home vacancy
rate has scaled its highest since records began in 1956, the
former textile mill city of Worcester in Massachusetts is
turning to the courts to fight back.

Their target: banks who abandon properties and who leave
behind a glut of empty, dilapidated houses that draw crime,
cut tax revenue and depress nearby property values in a
market already in a tailspin.

-snip-

In February, he began asking judges to assign property
managers to buildings at the expense of the mortgage
companies. The idea is to stop tenants from being abruptly
tossed out of a foreclosed home and to provide enough
basic maintenance to keep it from getting condemned.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1162941020080325