TOWN OF TONAWANDA, NY (WKBW) — A viewer recently contacted us to voice concerns over a zombie property in the Town of Tonawanda.
Al Liberante has a manicured lawn and garden outside his Montrose Avenue home in the Town of Tonawanda, but across the street is a zombie home. He told me the house was initially appraised after the homeowner died five years ago, but the family dropped plans to sell it.
“It's very depressing because the previous owner kept it up — immaculate, and you see this night and day, it's sad,” said Liberante.
“But they just walked away and stopped paying taxes, and February of last year...foreclosed," Liberante said.
WATCH: 'Something's got to be done': Town of Tonawanda resident raises concerns about zombie property
Although this home is foreclosed, Liberante said it remains an eyesore in his neighborhood.
“Something's got to be done,” he said.
I wanted to help Liberante get answers, so I headed to the Erie County Clerk’s office in Downtown Buffalo, which has a specific program called Zombie Initiative.
"We're the only clerk's office in the State of New York that does this,” explained Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns.
Kearns researched the vacant property for me. The foreclosure process finally ended in December of last year, and it's now ready for auction.
“And believe it or not, it's up for auction in the Erie County Clerk's Office this Friday,” Kearns said.
Kearns referred to this Tonawanda home as a “mortgage zombie” because the mortgage still needed to be paid off. But he said other abandoned homes are so-called "tax zombies," where people are failing to pay property taxes and they can't afford the county penalties.
"They charge 18% there's no payment plan, until you go into foreclosure, and it's creating these vacant properties,” Kearns said.
Three more foreclosed properties could be found around the corner from Montrose on Wendel in Tonawanda.
According to the clerk's office, there are more than 13,000 zombie properties across Erie County.
