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Causes: Economic Development, Urban & Community Economic Development
Mission: The buffalo erie niagara land improvement corporation seeks to confront and alleviate the problems distressed properties cause to communities by supporting municipal and regional revitalization efforts and strategically acquiring, improving, assembling, and selling distressed, vacant, abandoned and/or tax-delinquent properties.
Programs: In an effort to reduce the negative impacts of vacant and abandoned property, buffalo erie niagara land improvement corporation (benlic) acquired thirty-eight (38) tax-delinquent and tax-foreclosed properties using the preferred bid power of the corporation at erie county and city of buffalo's in rem auctions. Acquisitions include twelve (12) single-family residential properties, five (5) two-family, one (1) three-family home residential property, seventeen (17) vacant lots, one (1) multi-unit/ apartment, one (1) converted residence, and one (1) one story small structure. The corporation began rehabilitating all single-family and two-family residential single-family residential acquisitions in 2017 as part of the corporation's round two community revitalization initiative (cri) grant award from the new york state office of the attorney general (oag). Rehabilitation will continue through the first quarter of 2018 and the properties will be resold to low-moderate income buyers. The local initiatives support corporation (lisc) granted funds to benlic to rehabilitate distressed properties and additional funding associated with the national community stabilization trust (ncst). Ncst is a part of the bank of america -new york attorney general mortgage fraud settlement; funding administration, new construction, and rehabilitation activities. By utilizing these opportunities, benlic disposed of twenty-five (25) properties: eighteen (18) residential structures and seven (7) vacant lots. Benlic sold six (6) residential structures under its rehab program; one (1) new construction residence; seven (7) "note and mortgage" residential structures; two (2) lots for commercial use, and five (5) lots to adjacent homeowners or residential property owners.