You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News by Cracked.com

'You have a situation where the lender is not getting any interest payments, debt service payments, and now you're asking them to fix up and maintain a home that they don't have title to,' said Sam Liebman, a real estate expert. If they don't, they can be fined up to $500 per day by a municipality. The New York state zombie law passed in 2016 creates an online database of zombie homes, and pushes the responsibility of maintaining the properties to mortgage holders. 'There are a lot of zombie homes, specifically in areas that are highly populated with people of color.' 'Evictions are rising, as well as foreclosures,' Lloyd said. Rozner saw one of 1,200 zombie homes in the city's zombie home database, but officials estimate there actually could be around 2,000.īusiness Insider economy reporter Alcynna Lloyd said New York has the most in the country.

'It brings the values of other people's homes down,' Gadson said. State law defines a zombie home as one- to four-family homes that are abandoned and vacant, and 90 days or more delinquent on the mortgage, meaning they are in the foreclosure process, which can take years. Many homes from that era - 2007 to 2010 - make up the zombie homes seen across the five boroughs. Records show it was sold in 2009, and possibly became a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis, much like a home nearby on 160th Street.

'It just rundown, you know, and nobody's doing anything with it,' Gadson said. It has a damaged roof, and a cracked foundation. NEW YORK - From abandoned to affordable, thousands of homes creating eyesores in city neighborhoods could soon be a beacon of hope in a tight real estate market.ĬBS2's Lisa Rozner has more on 'zombie homes' and has an exclusive look from Jamaica, Queens at a city program that's being expanded to turn them around.įor more than 10 years, Rosemary Gadson has watched a home on 170th Street fall apart.

You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News by Cracked.com