Pa. city shames owners of blighted property on "Wall of Shame"

Attention Reading, Pa. homeowners: keep your home in good order, or you may wind up being shamed online.

Reading Mayor Tom McMahon has started a virtual "Wall of Shame" featuring blighted properties he says will be torn down unless owners fix them up. The property owners' names are posted along with pictures and addresses.

"We are ramping up our focus on irresponsible property owners that are bringing blight into our city neighborhoods," McMahon said in a statement.

"For 2010, we have 60 properties ... and 10 of them have been formally brought into the process to be designated as blighted properties," he added. "If owners don‟t respond we will take every action necessary to remove the blight, including tearing properties down."

"I say this to owners of derelict properties in our city: you can run, but you cannot hide," McMahon said. "The whole world will know who you are and what you are doing to our neighborhoods and City. Make no mistake about it - we are coming after you."

Blighted homes depress property values for entire blocks around them. Reading has around 1,400 such properties.

Click here to find a map and more information on the property scofflaws.