With
foreclosures in Volusia County on the rise and with more houses
ending up as bank owned properties, the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development is taking action to protect owners of
neighboring properties through the Neighborhood Stabilization
Program under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The
feds are working with local communities, including Volusia County
Government and some local cities, to help get bank owned, foreclosed
properties back on the market and in the hands of qualified
families.
“When a
neighborhood experiences a spike in foreclosures, this can have a
devastating effect on the owners of nearby properties by deflating
their property values from the deterioration of vacant homes,” said
Diana Phillips, housing and grants administrator for Volusia County
Government’s Community Assistance Division. “This program is
designed to help protect homeowners whose homes are not in
foreclosure from these negative effects. When funded, our program
will allow us to acquire, rehabilitate and re-sell properties that
are vacated and bank owned as a result of foreclosure.”
Volusia
County Government is expected to receive $5.2 million from the $541
million Florida is getting from the federal program.
“This is
not a foreclosure avoidance program,” said Phillips. “It is a
program designed to deal with the aftermath of homes that have
fallen into foreclosure and have the potential to have severe
economic effects on the neighborhoods in which they are located.”
Approval
of the funding is expected very soon and county officials will have
18 months to administer the money. In anticipation of this, the
county has issued a Request for Qualifications for rehabilitation
contractors. Also, a brokerage service will be used to oversee
re-selling of the properties.
To
qualify for the county program, the houses must have been foreclosed
upon, be vacant and bank-owned. The county must purchase at a
discount of 15 percent from the appraised market value. After the
properties have been purchased by the county and rehabilitated, they
will be sold to individuals whose household income is no greater
than 120 percent of the median income for the area. For example, 120
percent of the median annual income for a family of four in a
particular area is $62,760. If the family has more income than that,
they would not be qualified to buy. This keeps the rehabilitated
homes off the market for speculators and bargain hunters and makes
them available only to families in need of good housing at an
established price.
Initially, selected neighborhoods in DeLand, Edgewater, Holly Hill
and Orange City, as well as bordering unincorporated areas, will be
the focus of the county’s program. These areas were cited based on
the percentage of foreclosures in those neighborhoods, the
percentage of homes financed by sub-prime loans and their potential
for a significant rise in foreclosures.
Additional information on the program is available at Volusia.org on
the Internet under the Community Assistance section at the
Neighborhood Stabilization program page. Inquiries may be mailed to
Diana Phillips at
dphillips@co.volusia.fl.us or by calling (386) 254-4648 or by
mail at Volusia County Community Assistance, 110W. Rich Ave., DeLand,
FL 32720.
