Press Release

State Rep. Woody Burton met with experts on home foreclosures Wednesday in an effort to find further solutions for Indiana’s abandoned and vacant homes.

By meeting with bankers, attorneys, consumer protection advocates along with foreclosure experts, Rep. Burton intends to find ways to expedite the foreclosure process so abandoned or vacant homes can be turned over in a timely manner.

“When a home is vacant or abandoned, the house and the lawn’s appearance can become rundown affecting the overall look and affecting the safety of a neighborhood.

“Property eyesores can lower surrounding property’s value,” said Rep. Burton. “We are looking for solutions for dealing with abandoned properties in order to keep our communities safe and strong.”

According to research done by the Attorney General’s office, as of April 2010, it took an average of 419 days for a borrower who defaulted on their mortgage to actually lose his property to foreclosure, a timeframe that was the second highest when compared with other Midwestern states.

A property needs to be considered abandoned before it can begin the foreclosure process, be sold, or begin the renovation process. The legislation Rep. Burton is drafting looks to further define and qualify a property as ‘abandoned’ or ‘vacant’.

“Because of the increase in foreclosures, the foreclosure process has been slowed due to backlog,” said Rep. Burton. “It is my hope through these meetings to find ways to get abandoned and vacant homes turned over in a timely manner.”

This past session, the General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 582, legislation that helps aid in providing a way for neighbors to take care of abandoned homes. Referred to as the ‘Good Samaritan Provision’, the law provides a way for neighbors to proactively be involved in their community and for communities to take care of foreclosed property within the neighborhood, holding the neighbor harmless with respect to any claims of civil or criminal trespassing.

In the 2010 legislative session, House Enrolled Act 1122 addressed vacant and abandoned properties.  This bill sped up the process of handing over ownership of abandoned, foreclosed properties authorities to sell. Even though the 2010 legislation sped up the process, the terms ‘vacant or abandoned’ were not truly defined and continue to slow down the foreclosure process. Rep. Burton is looking to further define these terms so homes can be turned over in a timely manner.

If you have any suggestions, I encourage you to contact my office to join the conversation. You can email me at H58@in.gov or call my office at 1-800-382-9841.

State Rep. Woody Burton was presented with the Indiana Retired Teachers Association’s Outstanding Legislator Award on Wednesday, October 19, 2011. The award recognizes Rep. Burton’s work on legislation that provides retired public employees and retired teachers their 13^thcheck.

The Outstanding Legislator Award recognized Rep. Burton’s authorship and commitment to 13^th check legislation that helps retired public employees and retired teachers with their current cost of living adjustments. Rep. Burton worked on language included in the 13^th check legislation throughout the duration of the 2011 legislative session.

“I am incredibly thankful for and humbled by this award,” said Rep. Burton. “I can’t thank our teachers enough for all they have taught our children and the impact they have on the students of Indiana. I am grateful to be part of this legislation that provides our retired teachers with their 13^th check.”

The award was presented by Executive Director of Indiana Retired Teachers Association Andrew Thomas in a ceremony at the Statehouse on Wednesday.

“I will continue to fight for our retired teachers by providing additional assistance if they are in need of it,” said Rep. Burton. “At no expense to the Hoosier taxpayer, we were able to provide that for them. Additionally, I am thankful for all of the support shown to me by the Indiana Retired Teachers Association, as they have been instrumental throughout this process.”

The Indiana Retired Teachers Association promotes the welfare of Indiana’s retired educators, encourages education in Indiana and provides community leadership, service and guidance.

State Representative Woody Burton hosted two town halls in Johnson County this past Saturday. The meetings were part of an effort to reach out to his district and discuss various community concerns to better prepare for the upcoming legislative session.

“I always like to gather input before heading into a new legislative session,” said Rep. Burton. “Public opinion is the biggest factor I consider when making decisions about pending legislation, so it is important for me to have input from constituents about issues facing our community.”

Rep. Burton was joined by State Senator Greg Walker (R-Columbus) at the town halls held this past Saturday, October 15^th  in Greenwood and Whiteland.

Some of the issues discussed include economic development, addressing bullying in the school systems, cyber bullying, election of delegates, and issues concerning the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Rep. Burton also discussed laws enacted from the 2011 legislative session.

“We look to pass legislation that benefits all Hoosiers,” said Rep. Burton. “The discussions held in our town hall meetings give us a sense of what to keep in mind for the upcoming session. We had a good crowd at each meeting and look to continue discussing their concerns and issues in the upcoming months.”

If you were not able to attend one of the public town halls and you have a question or comment about the next legislative session, please email Rep. Burton at H58@in.gov or call him at 317-232-9620.

As Indiana’s economy continues to grow and improve, the sight of vacant buildings boarded up, abandoned and forlorn, is still an image we are being forced to see in many surrounding communities.

Over the summer, I worked to find solutions as to what can we do to help turn those buildings around in order to grow jobs, but also have less eyesores around town.

Granted, the legislature passed a law last session to provide tax incentives to businesses that renovate abandoned buildings in order to grow jobs and help improve the overall image of the community. I supported this legislation because I think it will encourage employers while also vastly improving many areas.

The problems we continue to run into are deciding what qualifies a property as “abandoned,” and who makes that decision.

Far too often, local communities are unable to get involved because there is no definition of what is considered abandoned. Common knowledge would say that if someone is neither no longer using nor taking care of the property, it would be considered abandoned. However, since there is not a clear definition, many inconsistencies occur.

It isn’t until a property is considered abandoned, that  it can begin the foreclosure process, be sold, or begin the renovation process.

To get the ball rolling I set up a meeting with some fellow legislators and community leaders to discuss this issue, along with land banks, to see how we can address the problem. After our meeting we agreed that our overall goal would be to find a way to expedite the abandoned property process and also find ways to get more communities involved in land banking.

Land banking is the practice of acquiring abandoned, tax delinquent, and other problem properties to make them available to non-profit and for-profit developers. Through rehabilitation and redevelopment efforts, these troubled properties are returned to productive and economically viable use, eliminate public safety hot spots, and improve local neighborhoods.

All properties purchased through land banking have to be free and clear of all liens, delinquent taxes, housing code violations and any other encumbrances that would prohibit the sale, disposition, mortgaging or rehabilitation of the properties.

In 2006, the legislature passed a bill to allow county executives to more effectively address abandoned properties in their communities by use of land banks.

Land banks have been proven to be very successful in Marion County. However, throughout the years, some small issues have occurred that we feel we need address today to make the law stronger.

This process will not be quick and easy, and will likely take some time to really dive into the underlying issues to ensure we are addressing the real problems and not creating additional problems for later. But part of Indiana pulling through in this economy, is addressing the housing situations that many communities are currently dealing with.

Property eyesores are not pleasant to look at, and they can also lower surrounding property’s value. What we are trying to do is simply find a better solution to streamline the process of dealing with abandoned property in order to keep our communities nice and clean.

If you have any suggestions, I encourage you to contact my office and become part of the conversation. You can email me at H58@in.gov or call my office at 1-800-382-9841. I look forward to hearing from you.

State Rep. Woody Burton will be holding two town hall meetings on Saturday, October 15 to discuss various community concerns in order to better prepare for the upcoming legislative session.

The meetings will serve as a town hall for the Franklin, Greenwood, New Whiteland and Whiteland areas. All interested and concerned citizens are encouraged to attend.

Who:     Rep. Burton and Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus)

Where: Greenwood City Hall, 2 North Madison Avenue in Greenwood

When:   Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

 Who:     Rep. Burton and Sen. Walker

Where:  Whiteland Town Hall Building, 549 Main Street in Whiteland

When:   Saturday, October 15 from 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

If you have any questions concerning these events or any legislative issues, please contact Rep. Burton’s office by phone at 1-800-382-9841 or by e-mail at h58@in.gov.