Press Release - $34M Foreclosure Assistance Check
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OFFICE OF GOVERNOR BILL RITTER, JR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, JAN. 15, 2009
CONTACTS:
Megan Castle, 303.866.6386, megan.castle@state.co.us
Linda Rice, 303.866.6249, linda.rice@state.co.us
HUD PRESENTS GOV. RITTER WITH CHECK FOR MORE THAN $34 MILLION FOR FORECLOSURE ASSISTANCE
Gov. Bill Ritter today was presented with a check for $34,013,566 from U.S. Housing and Urban Development Regional Director John Carson for a Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant to help Colorado communities recover from the effects of high foreclosures and declining home values. The funds will allow local governments and some private non-profits to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight.
"Foreclosed and abandoned properties are often targets for vandalism and other types of criminal activity," said Gov. Ritter. "Having these HUD funds available to help distressed communities is important to keeping these communities stable and safe for the long-term."
According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs' Division of Housing, there were 25,320 completed foreclosures during 2007, and the Division estimates there will be approximately 22,000 completed foreclosures during 2008. Adams, Denver, Weld, Arapahoe, and Pueblo Counties have experienced some of the highest foreclosure rates in Colorado in recent years.
HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program was created under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and provides a total of nearly $4 billion to States and certain local communities experiencing particularly high foreclosure problems and risk of property abandonment.
Colorado's state plan has three goals:
- Assist in stabilizing the property values in targeted communities by decreasing the rate of decline in property values in the nine counties with the highest foreclosure rates.
- Purchase and rehabilitate housing in the highest impacted areas quickly to lessen the extended negative impact of foreclosed and blighted properties in neighborhoods.
- Acquire foreclosed properties to provide housing for the most severely cost burdened households, remaining affordable for the greatest period of time.
These goals will be pursued with five specific strategies:
- Purchase and rehabilitate multifamily properties in order to rent to low- and very low-income families
- Purchase and rehabilitate homes and residential properties that have been abandoned or foreclosed in order to sell or rent
- Acquire and demolish blighted structures
- Provide pre and post homebuyer counseling
- Establish or coordinate funding mechanisms to assist buyers with purchase and rehabilitation of foreclosed homes
The NSP also seeks to protect future homebuyers by requiring States and local grantees to ensure that new homebuyers under this program obtain a mortgage loan from a lender who agrees to comply with sound lending practices. The State of Colorado's approved plan is located at: http://www.dola.state.co.us/cdh/SubstantialAmend.htm