by Buffalo Pundit
[b]The city is getting $10 million from the state to fund the demolition of 1,000 homes (at about $10,000 each, according to City Inspector Tracy Krug).
Buffalo Housing Court has jurisdiction over properties in the City of Buffalo, and people within Erie County. When a flipped house is cited for violations, the Judge schedules a trial and tells an out-of-state owner that he can appear, send a lawyer to appear, or ignore it, in which case the inspector testifies unchallenged. The fines are assessed and reduced to a judgment, which can then be enforced anywhere (full faith & credit).
There ought to be a phone number accompanying eBay listings for Buffalo properties so that prospective bidders can find someone to go out and actually inspect the property before the sale is complete.
Judge Nowak believes that the transfer of quitclaim deeds should be accompanied by a 30-day “cooling off period”, which would give eBay purchasers an opportunity to inspect the property after the bidding is through and to cancel the deal if the property isn’t up to snuff.
The anti-flipping taskforce scans eBay for Buffalo listings, and will communicate them to the judge and inspection services. An inspection will be performed, and the buyer cited for any violations. In some cases, both the seller and buyer are cited for them, and sometimes that can be very helpful because the Judge can get both parties to get together and make repairs or pay for demo.
City Councilman Nick Bonifacio introduced legislation that would require out-of-state purchasers of real estate in Buffalo to put up a $10,000 bond to fund any needed demolition of the property. That legislation was sent to committee, where it remains now. There would be issues of constitutionality and feasibility (what company would issue that?), but Tracy Krug insists that such a requirement would be very helpful to the City and its taxpayers.
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Originally Posted by woodstock
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