State Senator Jeff Klein Combating Housing Crisis In Bronx

State Senator Jeff Klein He was born and raised in the Bronx and now represents the borough in the New York State Senate. Like the rest of the country, his district has been hit by the housing crisis and with 43 evictions in the Bronx last month. There were 548 New York City eviction cases on the March court calendar. Senator Klein has been fighting to keep people in their homes.

Senator Klein said that there have been a record number of foreclosures, but foreclosures actually drag down the value of homes in the neighborhood. The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that a single foreclosure in a neighborhood can drag down property values by $5,000 and increase crime by as much as 6%.

He has also proposed the Neighborhood Preservation Act to combat this. The proposed law would allow municipalities to clean up unsightly foreclosures, issue violations and recoup the costs from the lending institution. The bill has cleared the State Senate and is now before an Assembly committee.