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Boston neighborhoods could soon see fewer boarded-up foreclosed houses

But not because there are fewer foreclosures. In fact, City Councilor Rob Consalvo said today, foreclosures are up 5% over last year. Consalvo (Hyde Park, Roslindale) has proposed letting the city force banks and mortgage companies to use indoor framing and locks to secure their foreclosed houses.

Consalvo's proposal - an amendment to an existing city ordinance that requires owners of foreclosed properties to register with the city and maintain their property - would apply to houses that have been in foreclosure for at least six months and which ISD has concluded has problems with plywood falling off or being pried off

Consalvo said plywood does not weather well and is easily ripped off by vandals or miscreants seeking a place to stay or set up shop - which can mean dangerous eyesores for neighbors.

Consalvo said replacing plywood with metal bars or panels mounted inside the houses would make the structures more secure and look far less offensive - in a window, the bars might look more like a shade or curtain, he said.

Councilor Maureen Feeney (Dorchester) agreed "this is a huge issue," and vowed her committee on government services, which would have to consider the change, would hold a hearing quickly - as in next week.

At-large Councilor Steve Murphy, who chairs the council's committee on public safety, said he wants to convene a meeting of his own to see how a similar overall ordinance could be drafted for commercial and industrial properties in Boston, such as the block of abandoned warehouses in Roxbury that collapsed in a nine-alarm fire over the weekend.

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Comments

yes - don't fix the problem, just hide it more securely...

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We have no solution for the problem, so the least we can do is require that the new owners keep the place looking nice instead of trashing the front of the house out of laziness.

This is one of the things I've never understood about foreclosure and the government. Sure, the bank has every right to milk someone for all their worth as much as possible and then toss them out of the bank-owned asset and try to sell it again as if the first mortgage never happened. Great, yay for the banks finding a way to squeeze people to death with home ownership. However, why do we have to make it free and easy for the bank to be home owners?

Why should the bank be allowed to just plywood up all of the doorways? Why should the bank be allowed to let the grass grow out of hand? The banks don't want to be in the business of being landlords (thus why they're unwilling to let the previous owner stay while paying what they can on their mortgage or renegotiating their bill)...well, why do we then let them be in the business of being home owners without any of the hassle of being a good neighbor?

The only reason a bank is willing to evict someone and leave the house to rot until they can find someone to buy it for as much as they're still out on it is because it's easier than dealing with the person who got behind on their mortgage. They will always take the easiest route. Make it easier for them to keep the original owner...by making it harder for them to hold onto an empty house.

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Also sponsored by Consalvo, requires mortgage holders to do at least monthly maintenance on their properties, including boarding the places up to keep out the bad elements and mowing the lawns. Mortgage holders who don't get billed by the city, which is supposed to do cleanup. Consalvo says the city has brought in $200,000 this way - and the money goes to ISD for cleaning up derelict properties, rather than into the city's general fund.

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Convalvo is the king of useless ordinances. From shopping carts to pitbulls he continually focuses all his energy on the issues that impact few rather than those that impact many. Its hard to believe that he and his colleagues get paid upwards of $80k. This guy has aspirations for higher office? A paper weight accomplishes more.

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