'Zombie House' Demos Stalled In Brookhaven Due To Cyberattack: Officials

FARMINGVILLE, NY — The Town of Brookhaven's demolition process of so-called "zombie houses" or dilapidated homes blighting neighborhoods, has been stalled since the cyberattack on Suffolk government due to the inability of officials to file pending legal action in the county clerk's office, officials say.

Town Attorney Annette Eaderesto explained at Tuesday's meeting of the Town Council that while officials can hold public hearings on the proposed demolitions, they have been prevented from starting the first part of the process by filing a lis pendens, which is a lien on a property, in order to hold a property owner responsible for the cost.

Lis pendens are required under the town's code.

Supervisor Ed Romaine said that the town could proceed with the demo, but they are something that he believes the property owner should be responsible for.

But the cyberattack has stymied that process, as the clerk's office gets back on track.

The office, which provides a multitude of online services, was one of the larger county departments completely shut down after the Sept. 8 cyberattack.

Romaine, a former Suffolk legislator and town clerk, and Councilman Kevin LaValle, who also worked for the county, said they were part of a group of former county employees whose social security numbers were exposed in the attack. Romaine scoffed at the county's offer for credit protection services.

"The county has to have a better response than that," he said. "And, now we can't even get rid of zombie houses."

The town was demolishing at least one house almost every week prior to the attack, according to Romaine.

The zombie house demo stall has limited the town and is "one way that this computer hacker has affected us now," he added.

The hack has also caused problems with the collection of the mortgage tax, which is paid to the county, and then distributed to the town for its coffers, Romaine said.

"We're hoping the county can recover from this," he said. "Having been an elected official of the county for 28 years, my fear is that county government is extremely hamstrung and will be for some time in the future as a result of this attack."

"It's a shame because it really limits the county, and in some cases, such as this, it limits the town from doing the people's work," he added.

Eaderesto said that her office keeps calling the clerk and she has been told the lis pendens might be able to be filed in January.

It was not immediately clear how many properties are being held up from demolition.

Previous requests for comment before the town board meeting were not answered by deadline.

Patch reached out to County Executive Steve Bellone's office for comment, but an editor was referred to County Clerk Judith Pascale's office.

Pascale's office was not immediately available for comment.

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