BUFFALO (AP) - The City of Buffalo is suing 28 mortgage companies to recover as much as $2 million it expects to spend securing or tearing down 58 vacant properties.

City officials announced that the properties have become a threat to public health and safety because the mortgage companies haven't kept them up since they were vacated by foreclosure.

About 20 of the properties have already been demolished at a cost of more than $300,000, according to the lawsuit.

A city lawyer says more legal action is expected because the suit covers only a fraction of the 10,000 vacant properties in the city. There have been about 3,000 foreclosures over the past two years.

Two local banks are being sued along with some of the biggest names in the mortgage industry.