There are thousands of vacant homes across the state that could help ease New York's affordability crisis.
One group has a solution to turn these so-called zombie homes into affordable housing by forcing banks to complete the foreclosure process and return the housing to living conditions.
The zombie homes are decrepit, dangerous, and abandoned. They are a relic of the mid-2000s, when many communities of color fell victim to predatory lending practices that ended in foreclosure.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is responsible for developing and maintaining New York City's stock of affordable housing, and has received funding and guidance from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
New York state has the highest number of zombie homes in the US. In communities of color, thousands of vacant homes are sprinkled throughout the state. The wasted housing stock is also contributing to the state's worsening housing shortage.
Jenny Weyel, the director of Neighborhood Stabilization at New York City's HPD, said there is a solution in the works.
HPD estimates that there are more than 2,000 zombie homes in NYC.
In an eerie similarity to the Great Recession, people are losing their homes through evictions and foreclosures as the housing crisis in New York escalates.
There was a surplus of vacant houses and homes in New York in the wake of foreclosures. The zombie law was introduced when the state became home to the second-largest housing-foreclosure inventory in the nation.
The law was used by HPD to force banks to keep their promises to keep New York's vacant homes. The law is the first of its kind and could serve as a model for other states.
It requires financial institutions to maintain the outside of vacant homes that hold delinquent mortgages until a foreclosure process is completed. Banks are fined $500 a day if they don't follow the law.
It has worked on more than 11,000 homes so far.
Through thevacants initiative, LISC and HPD have ensured banks comply with the law by tracking and studying properties, thus certifying that vacant homes are maintained properly and do not present a threat to the communities they plague. New pathways have been created for restoring these properties to affordable housing as a result of their efforts.
Every vacant house restored means a safe, affordable home for a family, a boost to the tax rolls, and an injection of vitality and care for the block and the neighborhood, according to the senior director of the New York State Housing Stabilization Fund.
One of the city's biggest success stories is a home located in the neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn.
The home was owned by Wells Fargo but they failed to maintain it. The HPD filed a complaint.
The city demolished the property when it did not get a response from Wells Fargo. The property was transferred to the City of New York by Wells Fargo.
The property will be included in a Habitat for Humanity project that will transform it into affordable housing.
Weyel said that New York City can't let homes sit vacant for a year. Families could be living in these homes, and they could provide a homeownership opportunity for someone who might not be able to afford it.
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