After foreclosureWednesday, November 26, 2008
http://www.northjersey.com/news/njpolitics/35116979.htmlIT IS A SAD fact that foreclosures related to subprime mortgages have become a new part of community life, along with spiking food prices, failed banks and cutbacks in services. Right now our towns and cities do not feel like the stable places they did only months ago — sturdy backdrops against which personal fortunes played out. They feel somehow shakier.
Congress acted quickly to counteract the foreclosure fallout, at least. In July it passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Part of that bill created the Neighborhood Stabilization Program under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In September, HUD announced it had $3.9 billion to give to states and municipalities hit hard by foreclosures. Empty homes can attract vandals, drag down property values and become a neighborhood burden. They can cause a neighborhood to feel unstable.
Fortunately, Bergen County is slated to receive more than $2 million from that program, and the state of New Jersey should receive more than $51 million. But first, HUD must approve all the applications, which it will do somewhere around Jan. 1, a spokesman said.
The plan is to give states and municipalities money to buy foreclosed homes, tear down or rehabilitate abandoned houses or give homebuyers with low or moderate incomes money for down payments or closing costs. A quarter of the money must be used for families earning less than 50 percent of an area's median income, which for Bergen and Passaic counties is $86,900 for a family of four. The rest is to benefit people who earn no more than 120 percent of the area's median income.
Families forced to move because they cannot pay the mortgage face a terrible road. We support statewide efforts to keep New Jersey families in their homes. But if foreclosure cannot be avoided, this program is an important response. It will help other families and contribute to the solidity of neighborhoods.
It is too bad, though, that one of the most expensive counties in which to live will receive only $2 million. That won't go very far — especially since the county is not allowed to buy property for less than 15 percent of market value.
The money will be used to buy houses in Garfield, Hackensack and Englewood, areas identified as high-risk in the foreclosure crisis. Joseph Rutch, director of the Division of Community Development, said the county plans to buy 12 houses, using the HUD funds plus money from other programs that dovetail.
"We need to move fast," Rutch said. "It's difficult out there for people."
For some families with moderate means, housing in North Jersey has always been complicated — too expensive or too crowded or too far from work for those without cars. The new economic reality makes owning a home even tougher. HUD and Congress are on the right track, and Bergen County has done a good job of figuring out where the money can best be spent.
North Jersey has been severely short of affordable housing for years. But now, that need is even more extreme. Home ownership should not be a luxury good.
IT IS A SAD fact that foreclosures related to subprime mortgages have become a new part of community life, along with spiking food prices, failed banks and cutbacks in services. Right now our towns and cities do not feel like the stable places they did only months ago — sturdy backdrops against which personal fortunes played out. They feel somehow shakier.
Congress acted quickly to counteract the foreclosure fallout, at least. In July it passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Part of that bill created the Neighborhood Stabilization Program under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In September, HUD announced it had $3.9 billion to give to states and municipalities hit hard by foreclosures. Empty homes can attract vandals, drag down property values and become a neighborhood burden. They can cause a neighborhood to feel unstable.
Fortunately, Bergen County is slated to receive more than $2 million from that program, and the state of New Jersey should receive more than $51 million. But first, HUD must approve all the applications, which it will do somewhere around Jan. 1, a spokesman said.
The plan is to give states and municipalities money to buy foreclosed homes, tear down or rehabilitate abandoned houses or give homebuyers with low or moderate incomes money for down payments or closing costs. A quarter of the money must be used for families earning less than 50 percent of an area's median income, which for Bergen and Passaic counties is $86,900 for a family of four. The rest is to benefit people who earn no more than 120 percent of the area's median income.
Families forced to move because they cannot pay the mortgage face a terrible road. We support statewide efforts to keep New Jersey families in their homes. But if foreclosure cannot be avoided, this program is an important response. It will help other families and contribute to the solidity of neighborhoods.
It is too bad, though, that one of the most expensive counties in which to live will receive only $2 million. That won't go very far — especially since the county is not allowed to buy property for less than 15 percent of market value.
The money will be used to buy houses in Garfield, Hackensack and Englewood, areas identified as high-risk in the foreclosure crisis. Joseph Rutch, director of the Division of Community Development, said the county plans to buy 12 houses, using the HUD funds plus money from other programs that dovetail.
"We need to move fast," Rutch said. "It's difficult out there for people."
For some families with moderate means, housing in North Jersey has always been complicated — too expensive or too crowded or too far from work for those without cars. The new economic reality makes owning a home even tougher. HUD and Congress are on the right track, and Bergen County has done a good job of figuring out where the money can best be spent.
North Jersey has been severely short of affordable housing for years. But now, that need is even more extreme. Home ownership should not be a luxury good.
