Sixteen Ohio and Michigan lawmakers have written President Barack Obama a letter, urging federal intervention in handling the swell of abandoned, vacant homes that are battering home prices in the states.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers are concerned that the vacant homes will attract crime and further deteriorate neighborhoods.
In the letter to Obama, the lawmakers said their local governments need “federal support to demolish the decaying properties on a large scale,” the Associated Press reports.
In Ohio, state officials estimate that more than 70,000 empty homes are beyond repair and need to be torn down. Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge from Ohio said in a statement that 15,000 of those vacant homes are located in Cleveland alone, and will cost an estimated $100 million to tear down.
“Home owners are depending on us to help stop the free fall of their property values,” Fudge said in a statement. “It’s time we develop and pass meaningful legislation that promotes the revitalization of our neighborhoods.”
Source: “Ohio, Mich. Lawmakers Write Obama on Vacant Homes,” Associated Press (Jan. 23, 2012)
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