Local Attorney Todd Thomas (left) and City Development Director Vince DeJoy.
JAMESTOWN – A new effort is underway in the city of Jamestown to identify all the zombie properties in the city and work toward addressing as many as possible before they fall into total disrepair.
A zombie property is a property that is left vacant by a property owner – often times after being notified of a pending foreclosure. The property owner may not be aware that a foreclosure notification doesn’t mean they have to leave the property immediately, and that there are resources available to help them deal with foreclosure or even prevent it from being finalized.
To that end, Jamestown Development Director Vince DeJoy said the city is using a $150,000 state grand and has hired local attorney Todd Thomas to work on a part time basis to try and identify zombie properties in the city and work toward finding a solution.
“We hired extra capacity in the corporation counsel’s office to look into these zombie properties and do a number of things, including provide legal information to people that are in foreclosure. They can call our office directly and speak with an attorney, who can’t provide legal advice because of a possible conflict of interest, but can provide legal information on potential programs and resources,” DeJoy said, adding, “Basically to let them know that it’s a poor choice to just leave the keys to the bank and take off, because they are still legally responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of these zombie properties.”
DeJoy adds that currently officials don’t know the exact number of zombie properties in the city, but they hope to have an accurate number through Thomas’ work, which also includes working with a recently created state database to identify individuals who are in foreclosure process and determine whether or not they’ve abandoned the property before the foreclosure has been finalized.
If a member of the public suspects a property to be a zombie house or believes there is a housing code violation, they can call the city Department of Development at 483-7542 or they can call Thomas at 484-4103. Residents can also visit the city’s website – JamestownNY.net — to report properties vacant homes or properties that have a code violation.
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