It's an ongoing problem in the city of Johnstown: Hundreds of blighted properties. And on Monday, city officials were busy starting to correct the problem.

They're homes infested with insects and rodents, yards filled with garbage, rundown cars and tall weeds. The city codes department has started cracking down on these blighted properties by forcing owners to either clean up or pay a fine and possibly lose their property.

There were 14 different blighted property cases heard in district court Monday morning. But before taking it that far, property owners do receive a written warning, stating how many days they have to clean up their property and take care of the issue. If property owners don't comply with that warning, they will get summoned to court, where they will be required to pay a fine of at least $300 as well as a court fee.

There is help available. Lift Johnstown is a group assisting with the revitalization process, by helping those with financial issues to clean up their homes, as well as fixing up empty lots if properties get torn down.

"The goal is to, over a period of several years, be able to see a real change," said Brad Clemenson, coordinator of Lift Johnstown. "Especially some of the gateway properties and along the most busiest corridors... So it really looks like a much better area."

"We want to make sure that individuals who have blighted properties know that they cannot continue to have garbage, rubbish, things like that on their property," said Ronald Repak, solicitor for the city of Johnstown.

Officials admit it is going to take some time to fix all the properties throughout the city. But Lift Johnstown is confident that with the city cracking down, people will step in and help to speed up the process. To find out more about Lift Johnstown you can visit their website, www.liftjohnstown.org.