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This house at 413 Seeley Road, in the Salt Springs neighborhood of Syracuse, is one of 23 that will be seized by the city this week and sold to the Syracuse land bank unless owners make last-minute arrangements to pay off the tax debts
(Tim Knauss | tknauss@syracuse.com)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The new Syracuse land bank is scheduled to take possession of its first 23 properties this week, a milestone that will increase the new organization's visibility as a property manager, landlord and - officials hope - an agent of neighborhood revitalization.
The land bank's acquisition of tax-delinquent homes, apartment buildings and other properties may also put it in the uncomfortable position of having to evict tenants if they can't pay rent or their buildings are beyond repair.
But Katelyn Wright, the land bank's executive director, said eviction will be the last option. The land bank is willing to rent to the tenants of buildings it seizes, and will also work with homeowners if they want to stay on as renters after their homes are taken, she said.
This house at 257 Collingwood Ave. S. in Eastwood is one of 23 properties the city will seize this week and sell to the Syracuse land bank unless owners make last-minute arranagements to pay the tax debts.
"Ideally, I would like for all of the tenants to stay right where they are,'' Wright said. "The goal is to keep people in their houses.''
The Greater Syracuse Property Development Corp., as the land bank is formally named, was created last year, one of the 10 such organizations authorized under state legislation.
Its board of directors was appointed by elected officials from Syracuse and Onondaga County, but the organization is independent of either government
Working in tandem with Syracuse government, the land bank acquires properties that the city seizes for back taxes. The land bank pays only $151 per property, the city's cost of foreclosure.
The land bank's mission is to market the properties that can be fixed and demolish the ones that can't. At this point, there is little clarity about which is which.
Land bank representatives can't legally go inside the buildings until after they own them, Wright said. In some cases, she said, it's not clear yet whether houses are occupied or vacant, she added.
Over the past year, Syracuse tax officials have sent foreclosure notices to the owners of 900 properties, a pace that is expected to continue as the city works through a backlog of about 3,500 seizable tax-delinquent properties.
So far, about half of the owners threatened with foreclosure have paid their taxes. At that rate, the land bank could own as many as 1,800 properties three years from now.
The 23 parcels to be transferred this week are the first that have gone through the months-long process to complete a tax foreclosure, which includes approval from the city council. Eight are vacant lots, one is a commercial building, and the other 14 are houses.
Most of the houses are believed to be vacant, Wright said, but some may have tenants. She won't know for sure until after the land bank takes possession, she said.
About 70 more foreclosures have already been approved by the council and are expected to be completed in the coming month, including roughly a dozen owner-occupied homes.
More than 100 additional properties will come before the council between now and November. From here on out, Wright said she anticipates a regular stream of foreclosures.
The land bank has hired four property management firms to look after its properties. Managers will begin knocking on doors this week to inspect the interiors of occupied structures and to inform tenants that they have a new landlord, Wright said.
The Greater Syracuse Tenants Network, a nonprofit group that gets city funding to assist tenants who live in substandard housing, is trying to help affected tenants. The group mailed postcards to occupants of apartment buildings on the foreclosure list, said Sharon Sherman, executive director.
Sherman said her group will help tenants understand the land bank and will advise them on how to respond if their building is seized for back taxes. Each case is different, she said.
Sherman, who also serves on a citizen committee that advises the land bank, said she anticipates that the land bank will help struggling neighborhoods improve. But some people may be forced to move in the process, she said.
"This is the right thing to do,'' Sherman said. "There will be times that individuals do get hurt. You can't save every single person. But the amount of change this is going to foster . . . it's going to shake up the neighborhoods that need to be shaken up.''
For more information: Tenants in need of assistance can call the tenants network at 475-8092. People with questions about land bank properties can call the land bank at 422-2301.
Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023 or on Twitter @TimKnauss.
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