Milwaukee – The
City of Milwaukee is moving forward with an effort to end the blight of abandoned homes in city neighborhoods by putting foreclosed homes back in use.
Hundreds of homes sit boarded up or abandoned due to owners failing to pay property taxes.
These abandoned and boarded up homes have not only become an eyesore to residents, they attract crime as well. So the city is fixing some of the houses and they are offering to sell them to responsible potential owners for one dollar.
But before you can take full ownership of a City of Milwaukee foreclosed home, you must first lease the property to prove that you are a responsible owner.
The city’s new leaseto-own program requires that before you take full ownership of any city foreclosed house, you first lease the home to pay $500 a month in rent to the city for two years. During that time, he must maintain the house and take home-ownership counseling. If you meet those requirements, the city will then sell you the the property for $1.
Through the program the city hires contractors to inspect foreclosed homes for the city, they then draw up rehab plans and once the rehab plans have been submitted, the city allocates up to $20,000 dollars for repairs to each property involved in the lease-to-own program.
Contractors say that most of the time repairs to a foreclosed home entails fixing roofs, windows, walls. The mechanicals, like electrical, plumbing.
City officials say a list has been developed of people who want to take part in the new program.
In his recent budget address, Mayor Tom Barrett said the number of city-owned foreclosures tops 1000.
“…it’s a burden for many of our neighborhoods,” Barrett says.
And city taxpayers foot the bill. The mayor says the foreclosure problem is the main reason he’s asking for a tax increase in the 2014 budget.
For more information about this program, contact your alderman at City Hall.