Revere paying price for abandoned properties

REVERE – Overseeing abandoned businesses and homes has become a $64,000 a year problem for the city only slightly offset by fines against owners who leave their property untended.City inspectors levied $100,000 in fines against owners of dilapidated buildings but most of the money goes into the city general fund.”A lot of these are walk away properties,” said inspections chief Nicholas Catinazzo.Catinazzo estimates half of the 120 buildings labeled abandoned by city inspectors so far this year were taken over by banks following foreclosure. By comparison, 45 properties were abandoned in 2007.”When I came on eight years ago, it was only certain areas of the city that had this problem. Now it’s everywhere,” Catinazzo said.Neighbor complaints about overgrown grass or piled up mail often alert city inspectors to abandoned properties. The city gives the owner 24 hours to clean up the property before issuing subsequent orders and, eventually, fines.Catinazzo said fines assessed on abandoned properties range between $600 and $1,000. In one case, an owner was fined $11,000 in connection with a sewage problem resulting from abandonment.City officials are trying to keep tabs on abandoned property even as two non-profit organizations seek to assist homeowners in avoiding foreclosure.Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, an East Boston-based non-profit organization, is sponsoring a foreclosure prevention workshop on Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Revere High School.The workshop is free and attendees should bring two months worth of financial information, including bank statements and two years worth of tax filing information.The city is also working with Chelsea Restoration Corporation, an organization similar to NOAH, to provide foreclosure prevention counseling.Chelsea Restoration in February estimated 358 Revere homeowners faced foreclosure with mortgage lenders threatening to take the properties away from their owners.