Banks who control vacant homes can’t just leave them to rot any more, thanks to an ordinance passed today by the Chicago City Council.

Sponsored by South and West Loop aldermen Pat Dowell (3rd) and Bob Fioretti (2nd), the new ordinance requires banks to take care of the properties they’ve foreclosed on. That means they’re now required to mow lawns, shovel snow and board up the doors of abandoned buildings.

The city already had a law on the books that required anyone who owned a vacant building to keep it in good shape, but the new law explicitly says that anyone who owns the mortgage has the burden of maintaining the property — including situations where multiple people may own a share of the mortgage.

“When vacant buildings are left to deteriorate, local property values tumble and criminality gains an entry into the neighborhood,” Dowell said in a statement released by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s press office. “The landmark piece of legislation passed today will hold banks responsible for the upkeep of vacant properties, keeping them secure and keeping neighborhoods intact.”

The press release said that the city of Chicago spent $15 million in 2010 to deal with vacant buildings, including $13.7 million in expenses for the city’s Department of Buildings to board up vacant properties or demolish them. Almost all of those costs would be recoverable from banks under the new law.