A DECADE ago, the Menino administration ran “House of Shame” ads in local newspapers juxtaposing photos of derelict properties in Boston next to the sumptuous suburban residences of absentee landlords. “How would you like having this vacant building next door to you?” posed the provocative ads. Nowadays, the best detectives in the city would be hard-pressed to push through the underbrush of mortgage brokers, lenders, Wall Street financial firms, and investors in an effort to establish ownership of some of Boston’s abandoned properties.

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In Boston, 703 residential properties fell into foreclosure last year, up from 261 in 2006, according to Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development. Much of the problem relates to subprime mortgages that lulled gullible or financially unstable buyers with low introductory rates. Many of these borrowers couldn’t cope with the combination of interest hikes, a weakening economy, and a falling housing market.

And the trouble didn’t end at the borrowers’ front doors. Abandoned properties can quickly become magnets for vandals, drug dealers, gangs, and illicit activities. One family’s personal financial crisis can quickly become a community catastrophe. The public’s health can also be at risk. A recent Globe article cited a foreclosed property on Chesterfield Street in Hyde Park, empty since 2006, where city officials recently discovered a filled swimming pool. It posed a serious risk to local children. And no neighborhood is immune. Mayor Menino lives on the same street.

City Councilor Robert Consalvo of Hyde Park is offering a sound ordinance that would help to increase accountability and counter concerns of neighbors. The proposal would require mortgage holders to register foreclosed properties with the city, identify who is responsible for security and maintenance, and post the contact information prominently on the outside of the property. Holders of abandoned buildings would have to hire local property management companies to attend to them, says Consalvo, who has spent fruitless hours on the phone trying to establish ownership of problem properties in his district. The proposed ordinance would also include fines against mortgage holders that fail to maintain their abandoned properties.

The city’s inspectional services department does a generally good job identifying problem properties. And Menino has been putting pressure on the mortgage holders and servicers who target buyers for subprime mortgages. But taxpayers, in many cases, are still footing the bill for boarding homes, shoveling walks, and draining pools.

Consalvo’s proposal would put more teeth in current laws. And the prospect of fines should motivate mortgage companies to find new buyers for the properties. Any prod in this direction would be welcome in Boston.