Funding demolition of vacant and abandoned homes

Congressman Steve LaTourette and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge unveil legislation.

Colleen O'Neill, Newsradio WTAM 1100

(Cleveland)- Congressman Steve LaTourette and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge have come together to try and get rid of some of the vacant and abandoned homes in northeast Ohio.

LaTourette and Fudge introduced legislation called "Restore our Neighborhood Act of 2012" during a press conference Monday afternoon at E.69th north of Union Avenue.

This is a block away from where a mother and her one year old daughter were abducted and killed in a vacant garage last month.

A vacant home on E.69th

The bipartisan legislation provides $4 billion for states and established land banks to issue 30-year demolition bonds to demolish homes across the country.

Bonds would be divided into two pots: $2 billion divided equally among states and $2 billion for the states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Ohio and several other states would qualify as hard hit.

"The intention is to halt a tsunami of blight that is ruining once stable neighborhoods one home and one street at a time by focusing on properties that are beyond repair," says LaTourette.

Many of these homes are safety hazards and drag down property values for nearby homeowners.

There are 26,000 vacant homes in Cuyahoga County and in Akron there are about 2,300.

Another home on E.69th waiting to be demolished