By Letitia James and Denise Scott

In an op-ed for the New York Daily News, New York Attorney General Letitia James and LISC president Denise Scott describe how communities and local governments can turn the tide on vacant and so-called “zombie” homes that drive crime, sap the resources of municipalities and undermine the wellbeing of Black and brown people and their neighborhoods. A New York State law, proceeds from an Attorney General settlement with banks responsible for the foreclosure crisis, and a groundbreaking initiative stewarded by LISC have helped municipalities across New York State can show the way forward in the post-pandemic era.

In a Q+A with Brick Underground, LISC’s Helene Caloir, lead author of a new LISC-Urban Institute report on remediating vacant homes and preventing foreclosure, explains the nature of “zombies houses” in our midst, and what to do about them. There’s important news in the story: says Caloir, “In the current crisis, [we have] more tools for keeping people in their homes.” The excerpt below was originally published by Brick Underground Zombie houses: Inside NY's effort to release derelict properties from legal limbo By Jennifer White Karp, Managing Editor of Brick Underground

LISC & Urban Institute

A report from LISC and Urban Institute describes how a NY State law, proceeds from an Attorney General settlement with banks, and an initiative from LISC helped NY communities turn the tide on vacant and “zombie” homes and prevent future foreclosures.

By Helene Caloir

This month, LISC and Cornell University will co-sponsor a conference on comprehensive approaches to turning vacant and “zombie” homes into community assets—and upending the conditions that create them in the first place. Helene Caloir, director of LISC’s $75 million New York State Housing Stabilization Fund, describes how this work is part and parcel of the broad challenges of revitalizing neighborhoods, dismantling racial inequity and sparking economic mobility.

LISC has been selected to develop and administer the second phase of a substantial grant initiative that turns "zombie" and vacant properties across New York State into liveable and affordable homes for families. This next round of the program, which will support 76 municipalities, also helps connect at-risk homeowners with foreclosure prevention resources.

LISC staff discuss our NY State Housing program and are joined by partners from Niagara Falls and Albany in New York. Watch the recording for a conversation about emerging best practices in New York State and how to replicate them in your municipalities.

Zombie homes—caught in foreclosure limbo and abandoned—have pocked thousands of American neighborhoods since the Great Recession. An article in U.S. News takes a close look at how zombie remediation strategies, like those that LISC supports, connect families with homes in need of care, and energize communities in the bargain. LISC's CEO Maurice A. Jones and Chicago staff describe the intensive, cross-sector work that makes it all happen

In part 2 of the discussion on Zombie homes, Maurice A. Jones, Helene Caloir and Morgan Harper delve deeper into the world of Zombie and vacant properties and suggest successful ways to bring these properties back to life to revitalize communities. And the best part is…it can be done!