More Fed Money Coming to Help Florida Foreclosure Crisis
HUD has announced that another $1 billion in federal funds will be made available to purchase and renovate abandoned homes in areas hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Most of the money is likely to go to Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada.
According to a report at the Huffington Post, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan made the announcement at a media breakfast earlier this week:
Most of the money will go to benefit states such as Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona, which have been most affected by the housing crisis, providing them with funding to purchase and rehabilitate vacant homes.
The reallocated money could help Las Vegas more than any other single city, Donovan noted. But there's evidence that the country has too many houses on the market already, the fallout of over-zealous construction during the boom years. In Las Vegas, for instance, there are 9,517 new homes sitting empty and in the first quarter alone 5,600 homes were repossessed by lenders, according to recent reporting in the New York Times. Donovan responded to this directly: "We have seen substantial improvements in many badly depressed markets... I wouldn't say Las Vegas is a good example of what's happening around the country."
Renovating and reselling houses is only a fraction of what officials aim to do with the incoming money. The administration will work with Congress on HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, with additional dollars for foreclosure prevention counseling. In places like Cleveland and Detroit, Donovan is planning what he called a fundamental rethinking of land use. "What was encouraging [in Detroit]," says Donovan, reflecting on his trip to the city last month, "was that Mayor Bing is thinking strategically." Outside-the-box initiatives include a commitment to building better public transportation, in particular a new streetcar line and maybe a commitment to rural farming.
If you are a Florida homeowner facing possible foreclosure, contact our Jacksonville, Florida foreclosure law firm.
Greg Gilbert
Keith Maynard
