The Government Accountability Office issued a report, Multiple Factors Influence Extent of Transit-Oriented Development. The GAO writes that
Tag Archives: local government
Reiss on Abandoned Homes
Interest.com quoted me in How to Deal with An Abandoned Home. It reads in part,
5 places to look for help
An abandoned home in an otherwise thriving neighborhood can be an eyesore – or worse.
What happens if the lawn goes uncut for weeks or months? If a pipe bursts inside? If a squatter takes up residence?
This abandoned property can quickly move from nuisance to become a real hazard. And if you’re trying to sell your home, an empty property next door can scare away potential buyers, or lead to lower bids than if your neighbor maintained that property.
You don’t need to fight this battle alone, though.
There are resources available to help turn that property around, whether you just want to cut the lawn, or try to get it out of the hands of an owner who is trying to squeeze every dime out of the property, at the expense of your street. Here’s who to call in what situation.
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Call the homeowner’s association
If you’re part of a homeowner’s association, it can help, too.
“HOAs have broad powers to enforce standards for homeowners,” says David Reiss, professor of law at the Brooklyn Law School in New York, where he teaches courses on real estate practice.
How much power they have depends on the HOA’s bylaws, rules and regulations, but HOAs can impose fines for non-compliance with standards laid out in those rules.
“Some might go further and allow and HOA to enter onto a property to conduct maintenance,” Reiss says, which can take care of immediate problems.
He warns, though, that an HOA should consult a lawyer before taking that step, not only to make sure what they’re doing is allowed according to its bylaws, but also because, even if the owner is delinquent on maintenance, they could still accuse the HOA of trespassing or stealing for entering the property.
Preserving NYC’s Affordable Housing Stock
The housing folks in the De Blasio Administration may want to take a look at a recent article in the Journal of Affordable Housing by Sullivan and Power. Coming Affordable Housing Challenges for Municipalities After the Great Recession (also on SSRN) provides an overview of some modest ways to protect the existing affordable housing stock. Policies such as these can inform the Mayor’s overall affordable housing strategy which will have to emphasize preservation as much as new construction.
The authors note that for “low-income individuals who are to find employment, the disparity between wages and housing affordability is stark.” (298) They also note that while “housing prices have fallen approximately 30 percent since 2006, adjustments in value have done little to ease the financial burden of rental housing.” (2) The article then looks at various opportunities that local governments have to stem the loss of rental units to conversion, demolition and abandonment.
The authors identify three cost-effective and ways that states and local governments may be able to “curtail the ongoing loss and conversion of affordable housing units . . ..” (308) They can adopt “no net loss” policies that could, for instance require that downzonings of residential communities be matched by upzonings . They can implement “rights of first refusal” that grant governmental and not-for-profit housing agencies “the right to notice of an owner’s intent to sell within a certain time frame and an opportunity to purchase expiring or opting-out affordable housing units.” (310) And local and state governments can amend their building codes to make it easier and cheaper for providers of affordable housing to maintain their properties.
NYC already does some of these things, but it is worth it for the new Mayor to take a fresh look at the City’s approach to preservation to ensure that there are no missed opportunities.