Hearings set on foreclosures, shopping cart removal

Hempstead Village will hold public hearings next month on proposals to require banks to notify the village when they begin a foreclosure process and to ban customers from removing shopping carts from store parking lots.

The two hearings will be held at Village Hall, 99 Nichols Ct. in Hempstead, on Sept. 4, starting at 6 p.m.

The proposed foreclosure notification law would demand that lenders who begin an action in court to foreclose on property in the village notify the village clerk within 15 days.

Notification also would be required within 30 days for any court action that remains pending before the law goes into effect. No notice would be required for actions started before Sept. 30, 2010.

The village clerk would maintain a list of the foreclosed properties. The mortgage lenders could face up to a $1,000 fine for not complying with the law.

“We want to make sure that we know about foreclosures so we can keep an eye on the properties,” Mayor Wayne J. Hall Sr. said Wednesday, adding that the proposed law is to maintain quality-of-life in the village.

The village board will also consider passing legislation that would make it unlawful to remove a shopping or laundry cart from stores, as well as possess or abandon carts off the premises. Violators could face up to $2,000 in fines.

A law already in effect makes it unlawful for an owner to permit a person to take a cart from the store’s premises.

“A lot of time people take the shopping carts to commit crimes and use them as a transport for stolen property,” Hall said. “We don’t want that in our village.”