10:20am | After the Long Beach City Council earlier this week agreed to create an ordinance that targets foreclosures, Long Beach received more good news as the city will receive more than $1.5 million in Housing and Urban Development funding to stabilize the community.
The HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program awards money to cities that have been hit hard by foreclosures with the goal of ending abandonment and blight. Los Angeles County and Orange County will receive a combined $22 million, with a total of $149 million spread across California.
“These desperately needed funds will be used to purchase foreclosed and abandoned homes in Compton and Long Beach and to help fund neighborhood redevelopment,” said Congressmember Laura Richardson (D-Carson), in a statement today. Richardson represents most of Long Beach, and parts of Compton, which also received $1.4 million.
Specifically, the money can be used to buy foreclosed and abandoned homes, or for grantees to buy vacant properties for rehabilitation. Low-to-moderate homebuyers can also receive assistance with down payments and closing costs, and counseling will be offered to families receiving homebuyer’s assistance.
According to a City News Service report posted on the Press-Telegram website today [P-T]:
The money can also be used to create “land banks” to assemble, temporarily manage and dispose of vacant land for the purpose of stabilizing neighborhoods and encouraging reuse or redevelopment of urban property.
“This summer, one out of every 129 homes in Compton and one out of every 276 homes in Long Beach, were in foreclosure,” Richardson stated. “With this money, we will be able to reduce the number of foreclosures in those areas, increase existing home values, produce affordable housing, prevent future foreclosures, revitalize neighborhoods, and create jobs.”