We’ve all seen it—a cluster of homes that look vacant, with overgrown grass, maybe some broken windows. Unfortunately, because a lot of cities housing is laid out according to income level, it’s not uncommon for entire blocks or neighborhoods to face foreclosure. This of course can become rather dangerous, as vacant properties are easy targets for unseemly people to break in and either steal valuable supplies like copper wire from within walls (which, as you can imagine, causes serious damage to the building’s interior) or simply stay put and live for free. When neighborhoods become ravaged by a declining economy, it’s important for the banks that own these properties to be proactive and protect what they can about the neighborhood.
Preventing Lengthy Foreclosure Processes
When the foreclosure process takes a very long time—the average time for foreclosure to be completed is 893 days, nearly two and a half years—the people who live there may decide to just walk away from the expensive property and start adjusting to life elsewhere. They’ll move out of a property, cease payments, and live somewhere else while they wait for the home to be foreclosed on. It’s up to legislators to change the terms on how foreclosures are processed so that homeowners don’t feel they have no choice but to abandon their homes, leaving the properties vulnerable to crime.
Protecting and Maintaining Properties
While we wait on legislators to change the rules, though, it’s essential for banks to step up and protect the existing homes. That means installing things like window security covers and a door guard on each door. These products block out people who don’t have access to the building, effectively preventing interior vandalism and break-ins by people who are looking for a place to sleep on the cheap. It’s far easier to protect property before a break-in occurs rather than try to clean up the mess afterwards, and installing window security covers also means these banks won’t have to worry about broken windows, either.
