Helpful Links and Outside Resources

You may find outside resources and avenues to do more research on this page. Please click on the bulleted links to jump to more detailed information regarding each resource. Please click on the bolded headings to access the resources themselves.

Safeguard Mortgage Servicer and Property Reservation Contacts

Safeguard Properties provides a list of mortgage servicer and/or property preservation contacts designed for officials of any municipality to assist in identifying the loan servicer and the designated staff for issues pertaining to vacant and abandoned properties.

Note: In some cases, the banking entity identified by a municipal official regarding a particular property may be a trustee and not the mortgage loan servicer. In those instances, please utilize the second section (marked in green) to contact the trustee to assist in identifying the loan servicer.

For additional information regarding the role of the trustee (and the loan servicer), please refer to the following web page at https://safeguardproperties.com/servicer-contacts/.

Homes/Homeowner Protection Program

Since 2012, the Office of the Attorney General and New York State have dedicated over $150 million to fund a network of nearly 90 legal services and housing counseling organizations to provide homeowners with free, qualified mortgage assistance relief services across New York.

The HOPP Program is designed to ensure that no family in New York State ever loses their home because they do not have access to a lawyer or qualified housing counselor.

Services include:

  • Assistance with applying for a loan modification, or other types of loss mitigation;
  • Direct representation in court proceedings, including settlement conferences;
  • Homeownership counseling.

File a Complaint at NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS)

Report a vacant property or suspected zombie home through the Consumer Complaint Form available through the secure Portal on the DFS website.

NYC HPD Page on Zombie Homes

This page contains information and resources for neighborhood planning on zombie homes in New York City, including the HPD Zombie Homes Initiative: A Lender and Servicer’s Guide to Managing Vacant Homes, which provides an overview of the City programs and policies concerning vacant, small homes.

New York State Housing Stabilization Fund at LISC

In 2015, LISC was tapped to distribute over $75 million in grant funds, donated by financial institutions, to mitigate the devastating aftermath of the housing collapse and economic downturn—and help prevent future foreclosures—in New York State. The grants are part of a series of settlements between the New York State Attorney General’s office and banks in the wake of the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

By 2016, the LISC New York State Housing Stabilization Fund was fully engaged with dozens of recipient municipalities and land banks, making and stewarding grants from the funding pool for efforts ranging from vacant property remediation to creating and preserving affordable housing across the state.

Zombie and Vacant Properties Grant Program
These flexible grants, totaling $12.6 million, are earmarked for code enforcement and housing quality improvement in New York State municipalities. They are designed to fund local enforcement of the New York State Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act of 2016 (aka the “Zombie Law”) and other vacant property initiatives. LISC is working with 76 cities, towns and villages, enabling them to deploy the funds for everything from foreclosure prevention to technical support for code enforcement. Learn more here.

Erie County Clerk’s ZOMBIES Initiative

The Erie County Clerk’s ZOMBIES Initiative is a collaboration between the Office of Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns and the Western New York Law Center. The primary goal and purpose of this collaboration is to provide resources to Erie County municipalities and communities facing zombie foreclosures. The Initiative hosted an information webinar on June 22nd, 2021 which you may access on our website here.