Governor Snyder signed legislation on Wednesday that will help strengthen penalties for owners of blighted properties and prevent Bridge Card fraud.

Of the four bills that will help fight blight, Governor Snyder said 'this is a good plan that will give more tools to communities throughout Michigan that are fighting blight. Blight is more than just a visual problem. It also negatively affects our economy by reducing property values, making it harder to bring more and better jobs to our state, and threatening public safety. These new laws will help communities continue the positive changes they are already making in the effort to eliminate blight."

The bills include additional penalties for failing to pay fines, denying zoning authorizations for property owners who have failed to pay fines levied against them, allowing local governments to garnish wages of property owners who have failed to pay fines and even allowing local governments to foreclose on properties when fines have failed to have been paid.

The governor also signed six bills to help reduce fraudulent use of Bridge Cards including a ban on using certain ATM's, the and putting more restriction in place for both banks and credit unions to work with ATM suppliers to stop Bridge Cars from being used to withdraw cash at adult entertainment establishments.

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