Tavares, FL - July 23, 2003 - We have hammered local officials about the lack of programs to fix the foreclosure problem in Lake County. So, the local Republicans haven't acted, and now the Big Liberal, himself, might initiate an action that could reduce blight caused by foreclosed and empty homes.
Local officials could have at least passed ordnances forcing owners of foreclosed homes to pay homeowner association fees so other owners weren't stuck with the common ground costs. But, no action has been initiated to my knowledge. They also could have taken the initiative using Economic Development, CDBG or Tourism taxes to create a Realtor driven co-op marketing plan to snowbirds to buy local foreclosures in a streamlined process - but they haven't. The County has staff organized Green FAIRS and conferences and literature, so why can't they used that "community building" and "program management" expertise to develop foreclosure fixing problems?
The Federal Government "owns" many foreclosed homes, so now they are considering RENTING them.
What a concept. Local banks and investors who own homes should also consider doing that.
Here is the Wall St. Journal article, unfortunately they force you to "subscribe" to read the whole article, so see the second link.
But, in this article, one person says renting foreclosed homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina didn't work because many tenants failed to pay the rent and the Feds didn't make them...
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Foreclosures-for-rent/Hy0qbv1wP06CfGa4DzO5qg.cspx
However, other articles say the Feds are considering restructuring foreclosure regulations to allow private (not Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) owners of foreclosures to SELL them to investors at a loss, and then the investors could modify the mortgage payments to a more "affordable" level. However, this only affects privately owned mortgages and not Federally guaranteed mortgages...
AND, in this article, a homeowner's group is criticizing the Obama administration for being so ineffective in managing foreclosure or mortgage modification programs compared to privately owned mortgages.
At least they are trying some resolutions of the problem...
vj
