An additional 140 abandoned, deteriorating homes in Hamilton and an additional 100 to 130 vacant homes in Middletown could be demolished within the next six months, as the city governments aggressively tear down properties before a grant program ends.

That’s more homes than what have been demolished in Hamilton and almost as many as in Middletown since May 2012, when the cities received approximately $1.35 million each ($2.7 million total) to spend on title searches, environmental surveys and demolition costs.

The grant program that awarded the funds, Moving Ohio Forward, was created by the Ohio Attorney General’s office and funded by Ohio’s share of the National Mortgage Settlement for foreclosure abuse reached in 2012 with the nation’s largest mortgage servicers. The attorney general’s office devoted $75 million from the mortgage settlement to the property demolition grant program to fight blight left by the housing crisis.

Counties that formed land banks — quasi-governmental, nonprofit organizations that can acquire abandoned, tax-foreclosed or other real property clear of titles and tax liens — were more likely to receive the grants because of a requirement for there to be a local match of dollars after the first $500,000.

So, in 2012, the Butler County Land Reutilization Corp., or land bank, was formed. It acts as a pass through to transfer properties and grant money to Hamilton and Middletown; Butler County government did not authorize for fees on delinquent tax payments to go to fund the land bank, as some other counties have.

Hamilton and Middletown city governments approved spending a matching $1.1 million each ($2.2 million combined).

In the beginning, Middletown faced challenges ramping up the staff to identify properties and handle the high volume of contract orders.

During the federal stimulus Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Middletown demolished about 80 homes over two years, said Doug Adkins, Middletown community revitalization director and Butler County Land Bank vice chair. By comparison, the Moving Ohio Forward program was originally scheduled to be more than 300 houses a year.

“With ongoing municipal budget cuts reducing city staffing levels, it took a lot of planning to execute over three times the volume of demolitions in half the time of NSP. Then we had to have enough support to get all the title searches completed, asbestos surveys completed, demolition contractors able to handle the workload etc.,” Adkins said in an email.

“Everyone eventually got up to speed, but the city had never tried to accomplish this much work on such a tight schedule and it took each piece of the process time to ramp up capacity,” Adkins said.

Hamilton faces challenges acquiring properties, as it is obtaining foreclosed properties forfeited to the state, said Kathy Dudley, assistant law director.

“Waiting the foreclosures out is part of the problem,” Dudley said.

It can take more than a year to complete a foreclosure, Adkins said.

When land bank agencies statewide fell behind schedule, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the deadline for counties to spend all their Moving Ohio Forward demolition grant dollars to be extended from December 31 to May 31 next year.

To date, about 64 properties have been demolished in Hamilton and goals are to tear down a total 200. In Middletown so far, 194 properties have been demolished with goals to tear down 300 to 325.

That means city officials and contractors will be striving to demolish more houses in a third of the time, a feat Adkins said the city intends to do.

“We are going to try our best” to tear down 200 houses by the end of May in Hamilton, Dudley said.

“We’re not going to tear down things that don’t need torn down, but we’re going to try to be strategic,” she said. “They have to be going through foreclosure, but given that we have limited resources, we’re trying to get the worst of the worst.”

Two ways to reduce blight

Hamilton and Middletown are going about demolishing properties different ways.

Hamilton is mainly obtaining mortgage and tax foreclosures. These are properties that go to the county sheriff’s auction twice. The properties with no bids are forfeited to the State of Ohio. At the request of Hamilton, the Butler County Land Bank asks for a property from the state and it is transferred to the city.

Once the property is demolished, the city can sell the land, keep it for city purposes, or adjoining property owners can request the land.

Hamilton also receives properties by donation, can demolish properties declared public nuisances by a court, or do an emergency demolition for buildings deemed hazardous.

“The biggest advantage has been we can try to repurpose the lots,” Dudley said about Hamilton’s way of doing it. “Sometimes the best and highest use is the next door neighbor gets a yard. It also gets rid of a lot of crime frankly.”

Middletown is not taking title to property in most cases, Adkins said. Instead, the city condemns the vacant property through the Building Inspection Department for code violations such as being unsafe and animal infested. The property owner then has the choice of appealing the demolition orders, returning the property to code compliance, or taking no action, Adkins said.

If the owner takes no action, the city proceeds with demolition, Adkins said.

The process of demolishing condemned properties can take about five months, Adkins said.

“The upside to the City of Middletown’s program is that the demolition takes place without the city having to take title to each property under demolition orders. In Hamilton, the city now owns several hundred vacant lots, many of which are not large enough to support redevelopment. Finding a productive end use is often problematic,” he said.

“The down side to the Middletown process is that in most cases, the vacant lot left by demolition is now commercially, effectively unusable due to the demolition lien placed on the vacant land. The private market will have no interest in what is left,” he said.

If one of these properties were to be sold in Middletown, the buyer would have to pay the city back the cost of demolition because of the lien, which might not be worth it, he explained.

In both Hamilton and Middletown, the cities are usually responsible for maintenance and mowing of the vacant lots, he added.

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Three ways this matters to you

1. Demolishing vacant, unkempt properties can help prevent crime and raise surrounding property values.

2. Hamilton and Middletown taxpayer money is being spent, to match grant money, to demolish blighted properties in the cities.

3. Butler County was hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis, with more than 12,000 vacant properties county-wide in 2010. Land banks are one way to address problems with blight that impact your property values.

What is a County Land Reutilization Corp. (land bank)

Holds real property pending reclamation, rehabilitation or reuse

Quasi-public

Nonprofit

Not a county government agency

Governed by board of county and local government officials, private sector experts

Sources of property a land bank can acquire/accept

Bank repossessions

Deed in lieu

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Government Sponsored Enterprises (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac)

Tax foreclosed

What land bank does with property

Responsible for mothball, rehabilitation

Resale to responsible qualified buyer/rehabber

Programs: side yard, infill housing, green space, urban gardens

Hold for strategic assembly and economic development

Demolish

SOURCE: Jim Rokakis, head of Thriving Communities Institute, a Northeastern Ohio nonprofit for vacant and abandoned property planning