Warm welcome for AG Coakley’s foreclosure battle plan

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s plan to crack down on an increase in vacant property vandalism has made Revere inspectional services director Nicholas Catinazzo a fan of the state’s top law enforcement official.”It seems like a good idea,” said Catinazzo, Revere’s point man in the city’s bid to keep local properties left vacant by mortgage foreclosures safe from vandals and fire. He estimates 20 of the 100 properties the city lists as vacant have been vandalized by thieves looking for copper piping and other metals they can sell in scrap yards. Even the Paul Revere School’s demolition this month attracted vandals craving metal to resell.Legislation filed by Coakley and Lynn state Rep. Steven Walsh establishes a Second-Hand Metal Registry requiring junk dealers and pawn brokers to register and license their businesses with the state. Coakley said the registry provides law enforcement with the necessary tools to prosecute metal thieves.Revere requires owners to register property with the city within 30 days after it becomes vacant.”Luckily, thieves don’t know a lot of these houses are vacant,” Catinazzo said.A Lynn City Council member wants the city to impose stricter controls on nearly 1,000 vacant local properties by requiring banks to register property with the city and pay a $300 annual registration fee that would be used to cover maintenance costs.Coakley’s bill also requires creditors to “take commercially reasonable efforts” to avoid foreclosing on homes occupied by their owners. Walsh said the legislation “benefits working families as well as creditors.” Century 21 Hughes owner David Hughes agrees.”No one wants to see someone lose their home,” he said.Hughes said owners facing foreclosure and lenders benefit if they can agree on a “work out” where a loan is reduced by the lender to the point where the home can be sold at market value and the loan paid off. The work out puts the property into the hands of another owner instead of leaving it vacant and prey to vandals until an owner comes along.Coakley’s loan modification proposal would be limited to certain loans, including ones with short-term introductory interest rates. It would also provide a degree of financial security for creditors seeking to aid mortgage holders.Hughes said modification programs must benefit loan holders but also be fair to banks and other lenders. He thinks the best anecdote to the foreclosure crisis is a solution that quickly puts the problem behind consumers and lenders. Don’t expect that solution to come any time soon, said Catinazzo.”The way I see things it’s going to get worse into 2010,” he said.