Apr 26th 2012 11:30AM
The foreclosure crisis, which has caused around 4 million people to lose their homes, has wreaked havoc on many neighborhoods. Foreclosed homes drag down property values when they swell the housing supply and sell at below-market rates. These bank-owned homes also can erode the character of communities by attracting all... Continue Reading »
May 20th 2010 2:00PM
In 2008, Vermont had 137 foreclosures, the fewest of any state in the nation. It had precisely zero foreclosures in the first quarter of this year, according to RealtyTrac. So why did Congress give it nearly $20 million in 2008 to deal with empty homes from the mortgage crisis? The same amounts went to Nebraska, Wyoming,... Continue Reading »
Mar 15th 2010 2:30PM
It looks like one program looking to heal neighborhoods scarred by home loan foreclosures is doing some good, at least according to a growing stack of local newspaper clippings. The Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program has handed out close to $6 billion so far to help fix the broken windows of abandoned and... Continue Reading »
Feb 11th 2010 3:30PM
What's a city supposed to do when foreclosures tally into the thousands and streets are glutted with far more empty, falling-apart houses than people willing to live in them? For a growing number of cities, a big part of the answer is: knock 'em down. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $2... Continue Reading »
Nov 27th 2009 12:09PM
If your neighborhood streets are lined with empty, foreclosed houses, Fannie Mae has some good news for you: The home loan giant is giving first dibs on its thousands of foreclosed homes to families who actually intend to live in the houses themselves or community organizers who intend to fix up the houses. Continue Reading »
