Foreclosure

Study: Foreclosure Main Factor in Chicago's 'Black Flight'
More than violent crime or employment rates, foreclosure has largely driven the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Black residents from the city.

Rescue Plan has Billions Available for Housing, Advocates Urge Officials to Take It
With relatively few strings attached to the $350 billion in funds states and municipalities will receive, the door is wide open for governments to make a dent in their housing needs. But will they?

Moving from the Inequitable Housing System We Have to the Housing System We Need
Three big, but basic, things that we could do right now to get us much closer to equity in housing.

The Foreclosure Crisis Waiting in January
Although homeowners have so far accessed financial relief from the pandemic much more easily than renters, housing counselors are bracing for a foreclosure crisis as forbearance terms start to end.

Real Estate Defaults Are Coming. Don’t Waste Them.
Here’s what the federal government should do to grab the opportunity to create affordable housing.

Can We Reduce Foreclosures by Building More Diverse Neighborhoods?
Arnab Chakraborty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Andrew McMillan of the University of Maryland College Park guest blog about a recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

In Detroit, Continuing the Legacy of Land Banks
While the Detroit Land Bank has had its ups and downs, it has made significant progress in a city with no shortage of vacant and delinquent properties.

New York Still Not Tracking Vacancies
Despite de Blasio's campaign promises, the city of New York still doesn't count vacant properties, a negligence that advocates for the homeless have been fighting for years.
Using Vacant Property Registration Fee Ordinances to Fix Blight
Planners get involved with foreclosure by assisting residents threatened with foreclosure or addressing community impacts such as blight, vacancy, and property disinvestment. A look at vacant property fees as a tool for dealing with foreclosure.

How Risky Lending Hollowed Out Detroit
Over one half of Detroit's foreclosed homes are blighted or abandoned. Buyers who purchased the homes for as little as $1 have little incentive to keep them in good shape—or pay taxes.

What Property Professors Are Writing About
A recent property professors' conference discussed a variety of issues of possible interest to planners including tightened home lending standards, municipal policies affecting the homeless, the Fair Housing Act, and inclusionary zoning.
Foreclosures Are Making People Sick
Seven years after the housing bust began, millions of Americans are still suffering. And suffering is the operative word—because both foreclosures and economic inequality impact people’s health.
A Stark Visualization of Detroit's Tax Mess
A Detroit-based maker of "crowdfunding and social mapping systems," has developed an interactive map of the tax status of every property in Detroit. In bright yellows, oranges, and reds, the city's property tax "black hole" is brutally clear.
Vacant Homes Plague D.C. Suburbs
Even in the Washington D.C. region, which survived the Great Recession with one of the strongest economies in the country, foreclosed and vacant homes are a stubborn presence in many neighborhoods, including affluent ones.
Speculators Scoop Up 42% of Oakland, CA Foreclosures
A new report by Oakland, CA nonprofit Urban Strategies Council reveals that a massive surge has occurred in investor-speculator ownership in the city's low-income neighborhoods in the wake of the foreclosure crisis.
The Obama Administration's Crusade for Homeowners
President Obama's multi-billion dollar proposal to help homeowners involves providing them refinanced, government-backed loans. The plan is not without its doubters, however.
Vacant Homes Invite Creative Reuse
From movie sets to pot farms to low-income housing, foreclosed homes have been converted in unepected and resourceful ways. Catherine Rampell reports.
From Foreclosed Home to Pocket Park
The city of Pacoima, CA is going ahead with a new program that transforms foreclosed homes into pocket parks. Vacant lots are being considered in addition to 10 foreclosed sites.
The McMansion as Dorm
In Merced, California, students fill in the large homes chockablock with amenities and left vacant by a high foreclosure rate. Rents often go for under $300 a month.
"In Limbo," Foreclosed Apartments Lack Maintenance
Until the foreclosure process is finalized, apartment buildings are the responsibility of no one in particular. Around New York City, writes Chris Opfer, foreclosing banks are increasingly being given the task of maintaining and repairing them.
Pagination
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