R2024-21 Resolution Authorizing a Professional Service Agreement with Hera Property Registry, LLC

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adopted in Rantoul, Bloomington,Normal(since 2002), Champaign& Urbana. Peoria is considering such a policy as well. Hera Property Registry, LLC has contracted with many Illinois municipalities to provide services similar to what we have proposed that they do in Decatur. These include Rockford, Moline, Quincy, and Macomb. Some financial institutions will not like the ordinance because they may not currently exercise effective management and oversight over real estate during their foreclosure process. Although Decatur has a lower rate of foreclosures than most other Central Illinois cities of comparable size,when a home is being foreclosed, it is the most vulnerable to vandalism, and intentional destruction by frustrated mortgagees who are delinquent. Many banks do not have a mechanism for regularly inspecting vacant and foreclosed properties under their control. Damages inflicted on vacant structures during foreclosure ends up causing some of them to eventually be demolished(often by the city at the taxpayers expense)—which in Decatur's case takes more potential housing away from a market that needs more livable units. Although it increases responsibilities for banks, most of them learn to appreciate a vacant and foreclosed ordinance because this mechanism helps them protect their assets. With a vacant and foreclosed ordinance in place,the city can more rapidly notify financial institutions of code issues—allowing them to correct them and thereby prevent the longer process we use now: whereby the city fixes the problem at the taxpayers' expense, then files liens to recover the cost, followed by more legal action by the city, all of which clouds the title. Summary and Recommendations It is recommended that the proposed ordinance, and the companion agreement with Hera, be adopted.