Bill Would Make it Easier to Take Ownership of Abandoned Homes

House Bill 1322, sponsored by Allegheny County Representative Jake Wheatley would reduced the number of years--from 21, to 3, 7 or 10--a person living in and maintaining an abandoned home would have to wait before taking ownership. The law is called "adverse possession" and would only apply in cases where the property was legally abandoned by a deceased or long absent owner. Wheatley says the law is designed to reduced the number of empty and blighted homes that dot Pittsburgh's, and the commonwealth's communities. As the law currently stands, he says it dissuades tenants from making improvements to homes, paying property and utility taxes or seeking loans for repairs, or from the state's Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program.