Attorney General calls for action on New York's zombie problem.

According to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman New York State has a zombie problem. Not the Zombies of pop culture obsession that eat your brain of course but an epidemic of zombie properties that eat your property values. 

Even though the great financial crisis is more that half a decade in the rear-view mirror many mortgages remain in a securitiztion limbo world that makes the the foreclosure process extremely long and complicated. Thus there has been a trend where houses in foreclosure are being abandoned by the homeowner before the bank can take possession. In the interim these houses sit vacant and unmaintained, driving down property values in the surrounding area.

The Attorney General has proposed a bill that requires banks to take responsibility for properties earlier in the foreclosure process, and requires homeowners to be notified of their right to stay in the property until ordered by a judge. A similar bill was proposed last year but not passed.

This issue is of special concern to Central New York as the rate at which foreclosed homes are becoming "zombies" is higher in Central New York than any part of New York State and seems to be on the rise even still.