Reps. LaTourette and Fudge unveil legislation to fund demolition
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Reps. LaTourette and Fudge
unveil legislation to fund demolition
of vacant, abandoned and
foreclosed homes
U.S. Reps. Steven C. LaTourette (OH-14) and Marcia Fudge (OH-11)
today unveiled the Restore our Neighborhoods Act of 2012. The
bipartisan legislation provides $4 billion for states and
established land banks to issue 30-year demolition bonds to
demolish vacant, foreclosed and abandoned homes across the
country.
"The intention is to halt a tsunami of blight that is ruining
once-stable neighborhoods one home and one street at a time by
focusing on properties that are beyond repair," LaTourette
said.
He said if uninhabitable, ravaged properties are demolished it
can stabilize and increase property values for responsible
homeowners who have maintained their homes and do not want to move
from their neighborhoods where they've raised families and worked
for decades.
LaTourette said the legislation is needed because under an
existing federal program only 10 percent of funds can be used for
demolition of boarded up and abandoned properties. He said
our area's needs are very different from problems in Florida and
Las Vegas, where almost new, upscale homes and condominiums are
vacant.
"We have areas around the country, including Cleveland, where
once lovely neighborhoods are just rotting, decayed shells of what
they used to be and the only viable option is to demolish and start
anew," LaTourette said. "These are not homes where you slap on some
paint, replace windows and restore them to their former
glory. These vacant monstrosities are stripped bare, are
magnets for crime and are causing surrounding property values to
plummet."
A recent report says there are 26,000 vacant homes in Cuyahoga
County alone, and in Akron there are reportedly 2,300 vacant,
abandoned homes. Further, a Federal Reserve report indicates
there are 19 million vacant homes nationwide, while 2010 Census
data shows about 15 million vacant housing units.
He said the bill tackles the problem so every state is helped,
and some states get more help. Qualified Urban Demolition Bonds
(QUDB) will be used for qualified demolition projects, with $2
billion divided equally among all states (roughly $40M per state)
and $2 billion focused on states that have been "hardest hit" by
the foreclosure crisis, also known as "qualified" states.
Under the legislation, Ohio and several other states would qualify
as hard-hit states based on unemployment, increases in vacant
housing, foreclosure rates and other factors. The legislation
will be paid for.
He said states will have two years after enactment of the bill
to use their bond allocations, and states without existing land
banks may participate. Funds not used within two years will
be redistributed by the Secretary of Treasury to hard-hit states,
like Ohio and Michigan.
LaTourette said the bill also contains an important provision
that will allow greater flexibility in how federal Neighborhood
Stabilization Program (NSP) funds are used. Currently, just
10 percent of funds can be used for demolition purposes in states,
but this bill gives hard-hit states like Ohio the option to use all
their NSP funds for demolitions.
He said certain areas in Cleveland have deteriorated horribly
and are often featured in news reports about blight and the
foreclosure crisis. However, the problem doesn't just affect large
urban centers, but other areas, including communities in his
district.
- Eastlake: 17 homes were demolished in last two years and there
are currently 280 vacant homes out of 7,000 units; the city spent
$110,000 in the last two years to maintain vacant properties.
- Mentor: no demolitions, but the city has spent about
$100,000 in the last few years to maintain vacant homes.
- Conneaut: 24 properties demolished with 100 more on a waiting
list.
- Painesville: 10 homes awaiting
demolition.
The Restore our Neighborhoods Act of 2012 should get a bill
number later today after the lawmakers return to Washington,
DC.