Middletown demolishing 12 more vacant, dilapidated homes

Middletown is demolishing 12 more homes during the second round of the Neighborhood Initiative Program, city officials said.

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A crew from Vickers was cleaning up debris Monday afternoon from a home that was leveled in the 400 block of Yankee Road across the street from South Park.

The goal, city leaders said, is to demolish “vacant and dilapidated” homes in Middletown.

During the first round, 15 homes were demolished, said Shelby Quinlivan, spokeswoman.

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She said contracts for the demolitions were awarded to Vickers, Brunk and PEW. She said homes need to be down within six weeks of the notice going out.

The goal of the Neighborhood Initiative Program (NIP) is to “stabilize property values” by removing and greening vacant and blighted properties in targeted areas in an effort to prevent future foreclosures for existing homeowners, according to its website.

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NIP will prevent foreclosure by helping to stem the decline in home values that began with the burst of the housing bubble in 2008, it said. In Ohio, 31 percent of homeowners with loans owe at least 125 percent more than their estimated home value, according to its web site.

Demolition is a “critical component” of strategies to stabilize home values, according to its website.