Buffalo sues lenders over abandoned houses in foreclosure
City wants them to pay for demolition when owners are forced out after foreclosure
By Jonathan Epstein - News Business Reporter Updated: 03/01/08 8:38 AM
A LIST OF PROPERTIES in foreclosure in Buffalo, and the lenders holding them
READ THE LAWSUIT FILED by Buffalo against lenders who don't maintain their foreclosed properties
Buffalo is taking fresh aim at the mortgage industry to force companies to take responsibility for abandoned properties after the companies begin foreclosure and drive homeowners out.
The city is suing 28 national lenders and servicers — including two local banks — to recoup between $1 million and $2 million it estimates it will have to spend on securing and demolishing 58 vacant properties.
In doing so, it’s trying to address the problem caused when no one takes care of a house. The lawsuit seeks to hold the lenders responsible, and accuses them of allowing the houses to “become so dilapidated, deteriorated, abandoned and/or decayed so as to present a danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public.”
The lawsuit says the servicers “have failed to take appropriate action to protect or dispose of these properties,” and it says the conditions of the houses violate both city and state laws. And it asserts that the city now “has a duty to abate these nuisances by demolishing the abandoned and blighted structures.”
“This is the first lawsuit that I would expect in a series. It’s our first strike in a wave that would obviously focus on more,” said Alisa A. Lukasiewicz, Buffalo’s corporation counsel. “This is our attempt to have banks take responsibility without walking away from properties.”
The lawsuit covers a small fraction of the total number of vacant properties citywide, but sought to include a broad swath of the mortgage servicing industry among the defendants.
“We considered these to be some of the most severe properties,” Lukasiewicz said. “To the extent that there are more properties, we will definitely be naming those as defendants in further actions.”
Of the 58 properties in the suit, 21 already have been demolished, at a total cost of almost $333,000, and the city says it has the authority to proceed with the rest and seek reimbursement, including for plugging water and sewer lines.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said East Side housing activist Michele Johnson. “There are hundreds, if not thousands, of properties in legal limbo because of the banks.”
The vast majority of the lenders and servicers named in the lawsuit are out-of-state companies. Many of them are part of the nation’s — or world’s — largest banks, such as Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Washington Mutual, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG. All declined to comment or did not respond.
Only two of the lenders were locally based companies: M&T Bank Corp. and tiny Alden State Bank. Their presence as defendants surprised housing advocates, who say local banks are not usually the problem because of their roots in the area.
Alden Chief Executive Officer Richard D. Koelbl did not respond to requests to comment, but M&T spokesman C. Michael Zabel said the bank had not been aware of the situation. “We’re looking into it,” Zabel said. “This is not our practice, and if it happened, it was a mistake.”
Lukasiewicz said M&T and other local lenders historically have been cooperative, and she hopes to “work out something where we could have arrangements made and our costs met.”
As the impacts of the national mortgage meltdown continues to ripple across the broader U.S. economy and the world, cities and towns across America are grappling with the effects on neighborhoods caused by foreclosures. Homes are abandoned, property values are falling and blight is spreading.
According to the lawsuit, there have been about 3,000 foreclosures in the City of Buffalo during the past two years.
City officials estimate there are about 10,000 vacant properties within Buffalo, with each one costing the city thousands of dollars a year from demolition, excessive responses to fires and crime, lost tax revenue, and lower property values. Over the next five years, the city projects it will need to demolish about 5,000 properties, at an average cost of $16,000 but up to $40,000 or more in case of a fire.
Some municipalities are now trying to hold the industry responsible. Baltimore has sued Wells Fargo & Co., accusing the lending giant of discrimination and predatory lending in minority neighborhoods. And Cleveland has sued 21 lenders and investment banks for their role in creating the mess through rampant lending and “securitization” of loans.
Buffalo relies on a provision in the city code that anyone who is the “owner, occupant or mortgagee in possession” or who exercises “dominion and control” over a home is liable for demolition costs.
The suit accuses the companies of initiating foreclosure proceedings and then “walking away” from the properties.
“We are thinking out of the box and being innovative in this approach, but we think that with the clear language in the code, it’s a very strong argument,” Lukasiewicz said.
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