Rep. Steve Israel backs bill aimed at finding homes for homeless veterans

Rep. Steve Israel plans to introduce legislation aimed at getting blighted homes fixed up and into the hands of homeless veterans.

The Housing Our Heroes Act is a three-year pilot program that would provide $25 million in grants to local veterans organizations nationwide to purchase and renovate blighted properties.

These organizations would offer employment assistance to veterans and help get them into the homes. The veterans would be given a payment plan and within a year they would have to begin paying a mortgage or rent the property from the organization.

"This is really a no-brainer," said Israel (D-Huntington), adding that he expects to introduce the bill with Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla).

Israel said the legislation would also help address the problem of "zombie" homes -- houses in foreclosure but abandoned by the owner and often falling into disrepair. Long Island leads the state in the number of zombie homes with almost 4,300 as of June, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that analyzes snapshots of real estate information. Suffolk County has the fourth highest number of zombie homes in the nation, while Nassau is eighth.

In a series of stories published in March after a yearlong investigation, Newsday and News 12 Long Island revealed that Long Island municipalities in 2014 spent more than $3.2 million to maintain vacant homes that had fallen into disrepair and that zombie houses have cost Long Island homeowners at least $295 million in depreciated home values.

Zombie homes are "not just a blight on a community, they're a hit on taxpayers' pockets," Israel said. "If you can save that money and save a veteran at the same time, it's a game changer."

The money would come through the Department of Veterans Affairs, who helped draft the legislation, Israel said, and would administer the money to local organizations.

Israel said 80 percent of the money paid by the veterans would go back into the federal revolving loan for the program, with 20 percent retained by the local organization. There are an estimated 2,500 homeless veterans in New York, he said.

Israel made the announcement Tuesday in front of a blighted foreclosed house in Dix Hills that neighbors have been battling for eight years. With boarded-up windows and gaping holes in the roof, the house has invited raccoons and rats that have migrated onto neighbors' properties.

In December an engineer for Huntington Town recommended the house be demolished, noting that it contains a "hazardous environment" of moisture and mold. Town spokeswoman Betty Walsh said that a blight hearing on the property will be held Dec. 1.

Neighbor Porzia DiGiorgio said she supports programs that help veterans, but is skeptical on whether the legislation will result in change on her block. "It's been eight years," she said. "I just don't see it happening anytime soon."

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.