City of Minneapolis Receives $19.5 Million for Foreclosure Help
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the City of Minneapolis $19.5 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds. This money will be used to acquire, demolish or rehab foreclosed homes around the city. The city will use this money in areas hardest hit by the foreclosure housing market such as North Minneapolis.
The funds area provided by the Federal Government as grants to state and local governments as well as non-profits. These entities must compete for the limited funds available. Minneapolis submitted the application in conjunction with the Cities of Brooklyn Park and Hennepin County. Saint Paul was the only other city in Minnesota to receive grant money.
Minneapolis will used the funds to purchase and rehabilitate or demolish homes and other properties that have been foreclosed and/or abandoned. The vacant lots from the demolished properties will then be held by the city for future development. These may be sold to non-profit groups that can afford to build properties despite the decline in the housing market. Some of the funding will also be used to develop financing programs for homeowners or developers that wish to purchase and renovate foreclosed properties.
The city was awarded $14 million in similar funds in 2008. It used $12.5 million to purchase properties for renovation or demolition. $6 million of that was used to demolish vacant or foreclosed homes that the city deemed were not worthy of rehab. If you are interested in finding any foreclosed properties, you can search the Minnesota MLS on this site.
