FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2022
City of Kingston Seeks
Legal Consultant for Multiple Housing Initiatives
KINGSTON, NY –
Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce that, with funding from the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) 2.0 grant, the City of Kingston has
issued an RFP for legal services to support multiple housing initiatives.
The City of
Kingston received $128,250 through the Zombie and Vacant Properties Remediation
and Prevention Initiative, also known as “Zombies 2.0 Grants, to further work
related to enforcement and legal action, homeowner outreach and education, and
title searches.
The City of
Kingston is seeking a qualified legal consultant to provide outside counsel on
the City’s current “in rem” foreclosure process, resolve title issues for
City-owned properties, and enforce the Zombie Property
Act.
The City of
Kingston has compiled a preliminary list of properties suffering from long-term
vacancy, a significant portion of which are owned by banks or loan servicing
agents. These properties are a community and economic development challenge for
Kingston. While in ownership limbo, many of these properties deteriorate,
stress the surrounding community, and exert undue pressure on municipal
services.
Based on the
guidelines in the Zombie Property Act, the legal consultant will assist the
City’s Office of Housing Initiatives, the Building and Safety Division, and the
Corporation Counsel to incorporate legal strategies requiring the lenders and
mortgage servicers to bring properties into compliance, expedite their
foreclosures, and other initiatives which will relieve the impacts of current
abandoned properties.
The legal
consultant will also review the titles of at least six City-owned single-
family and multi-family properties that have unknown or unresolved liens.
Remediating the title issues will allow the City to transfer these properties
to qualified buyers.
“We know we have a
housing crisis in the City of Kingston, and my administration is working on a
number of initiatives to alleviate housing stresses on multiple levels, in as
many ways as we can,” said Mayor Noble. “With an extreme shortage of housing
stock, it’s unconscionable for homes to be sitting vacant, deteriorating when
so many are in need. We see this RFP as the first step in a process in speeding
up the restoration and/or sale of these homes, and in keeping our residents
from foreclosure in the first place.”
The full RFP can be
found here.
Proposals are due March 8, 2022 by 2:00pm.
More information
on the Department of Housing Initiatives can be found at https://kingston-ny.gov/housing