New ordinance promises to hold banks accountable for foreclosed homes
Jenna Zwang | 4-29-2010 | Comments |
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L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti wants to hold banks accountable for maintaining houses they have foreclosed upon. Jenna Zwang reports.
At a foreclosed home near the corner of Florence and Normandie, L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti and groups from several different organizations spoke about the need for banks to take responsibility for the properties they foreclose on.
“Banks should know that they will be held as accountable as any home owner would be. That they as property owners must be responsible property owners. You see when banks leave homes abandoned and vacant, they devalue the entire neighborhood. They take down everybody with them. They create not only an eyesore for the neighbors here, but also a magnet for crime,” said Garcetti.
According to the Center for Responsible Lending, California has the most foreclosures out of any state, with 25,000 alone in Los Angeles. The new ordinance, if passed, will banks and investment companies that foreclose on homes to register and maintain them, or face penalties of up to $1,000 a day. Others worried that the rundown houses attract lowlifes.
“Cockroaches thrive in environments that are safe for them to breed. Abandoned properties like this quickly become that type of environment. Drug dealers, prostitutes, gangs, crooks , nogoodniks, they hide and thrive and proliferate in properties that fall into abandonment,” said Trutanich.
According to the Watts Neighborhood Council, each foreclosure costs the city about $20,000. Garcetti said his ordinance will pay for itself and generate revenue for the city. He also said the main priority is to keep these foreclosures from happening at all, and keep families in their homes.
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