The Village of Lake Orion, along with 12 other communities in Oakland County, will soon have a few dollars to deal with the fallout from the foreclosure fiasco.
The village will receive about $425,000 of the $3.92 billion the Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program is administering to communities across the nation to deal with abandoned and blighted properties due to home foreclosures.
‘This program is brand new,? said Village Manager Paul Zelenak. ‘It has to do with the problems throughout the nation, specifically in several states in the United States: Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, California and a couple others are where these dollars are definitely targeted.?
As the nation struggles with a sinking economy and record home foreclosures, the federal program wants to help strike balance in neighborhoods.
‘The goals of this program are to diminish housing vacancy rates, reverse the decline of neighborhood housing values, stabilize neighborhoods negatively impacted by foreclosure and abandonment, and reduce blighted housing and other buildings in neighborhoods hardest hit by abandonment,? Zelenak said.
Lake Orion’s slice comes from the $17 million that is being spread around Oakland County, mostly to places like Pontiac, $3.5 million, Southfield, $3.2 million, and Waterford, $2 million.
‘In a county hard hit by foreclosures, coupled with a terribly strained budget, these funds are a welcome addition,? L. Brooks Patterson said in a statement. ‘Hopefully, we will get our hardest-pressed residents back in affordable homes.?
Zelenak said he is currently working with area banks and the Lake Orion Police Department’s ordinance officers.
‘We’ve already started to identify the foreclosed properties within our community,? he said.
The village submitted an application to the county, who will present the information to HUD. After approval, there is a nine-month span in which the money has to be spent.
‘This program has been put on the fast-track through Oakland County and through the federal government,? Zelenak said.
The village can soon start spending their own funds on blighted properties in a designated area and expect the program to reimburse them.
How the village can spend the money and the designated area are similar to Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).
The ‘neighborhood? that will be ‘stabilized? by the funds must have a median income of roughly $73,000 per household, a bit higher than the CDBG district.