TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Ronald L. Rice, the Vice Chair of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, which would allow municipalities to prohibit advertisements on foreclosed, abandoned properties was unanimously approved by the Committee yesterday.
“In areas with a high proliferation of abandoned properties, you’ll see any number of vacant homes littered with fliers and advertisements for all sorts of products or services – many of them scams,” said Senator Rice, D-Essex. “The practice of advertising on abandoned, foreclosed properties adds to the blight on the community caused by the original foreclosed property, and sends an invitation for any number of criminal enterprises, from vandalism to looting. Through this legislation, municipalities will have a mechanism to clean up these properties and work with the State to go after deceptive business practices targeting people in the community.”