Cities across the country are working to eliminate blight in their neighborhoods via new rules and legislation. Lawmakers in Michigan, Northeast Pennsylvania and Oregon are putting forth various plans to cure problems of abandoned homes.
The U.S. Department of Treasury approved a $74.5 million plan to eliminate blight and avoid foreclosures across the state of Michigan, the governor recently announced. The money is a part of the first phase of transition for Michigan properties.
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority had its plan approved two months after the federal government announced that it had added $2 billion to the Hardest Hit Fund program. Of the money that Michigan will receive, 75 percent will go toward blight elimination in Detroit ($41.9 million) and Flint ($13.9 million), the governor’s office said. The rest of the money is earmarked for the support of mortgage assistance programs.
“These funds have been critical in helping people stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure while helping Detroit, Flint and other cities across our state eliminate blight and revitalize neighborhoods,” Michigan Gov. Rock Snyder said in a release.
In 2010, the state received $498 million from the Hardest Hit Fund, which has helped 30,000 households avoid foreclosure, the governor’s office said. It added that, since the blight elimination was introduced in 2013, 8,500 structures have been torn down by using about $130 million of the funds given to the state by the federal government. Michigan has until the end of 2020 to use the money.
Similarly, Pennsylvania state Sens. David Argall (R-29) and John Blake (D-22) of Northeast Pennsylvania also have been working to reduce blight via a bill to make Pennsylvania the eighth state with a “fast-track” foreclosure law.
The bill would shorten the foreclosure process for properties that meet the “vacant and abandoned” criteria. Under the legislation, properties would be declared “vacant” or “abandoned” either by a municipal code officer or court action. According to Argall, the “vacant” and “abandoned” criteria will include signs as to whether a property is no longer in use, such as: personal possessions have been removed, utilities are shut off, fixtures have been stripped and the grass is not mowed.
After this, a lender would be able to expedite the foreclosure process. However, lenders still would need to follow specific steps during this process.
The legislation would shorten a process that can now take from 300 to 540 days and would apply only to property that meets criteria for being vacant and abandoned, the senators said.
In a statement, Argall said that he believes the bill will reduce the time it takes to foreclose to a mere 60, and thus would prevent abandoned properties from decaying and reducing the value of surrounding properties.
Across the country in Medford, Ore., officials are thinking of employing an already-in-place law from 1989 to get owners of abandoned properties to fix them up.
According to the Medford Mail Tribune, there have been more than 400 mostly banked-owned homes that sit vacant and create problems for law enforcement and neighbors. In response, using the 1989 law, which has been put to use by Portland and Gresham, Ore., would allow Medford to foreclose on properties that become a threat to the health and safety of the community.