Officials in one small Massachusetts town have come up with a way to make owners of rundown buildings fix up their properties – shame them.

Selectmen in Webster, a community of about 16,000 residents nearly 60 miles southwest of Boston, said they want to post 4-by-8 foot signs with the owners’ names on them on the sides of dilapidated buildings.

They have asked the town administrator to investigate the legality of the signs.

Selectman Mark Dowgiewicz came up with the idea when he learned that nuisance properties cost the town as much as $9,000 per year for police responses to deal with squatters and other problems.

Board Chairwoman Deborah Keefe told The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that "sometimes the embarrassment makes a difference." (AP)