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Youngstown has demolition plans for its share of state’s $335M mortgage settlement
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Sammarone
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DeWine
YOUNGSTOWN
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is visiting a South Side neighborhood today to discuss what Ohio is going to do with its $335 million share of the national mortgage settlement.
Of particular interest to Youngstown is $75 million that will go toward the cost of demolishing vacant homes in the state. Under DeWine’s plan, a community would have to put up half of the money for housing demolition with the state matching that amount.
“This is definitely big not only for us but for the whole state,” said Youngstown Mayor Charles Sammarone. “There is going to be a little problem to fund the matching money, but it’s important to take advantage of this. We have to find a way to find matching money. We need this, so we’ll use as much money as we can to match it.”
The $75 million portion would “remove the blight” and “liberate our neighborhoods from this mess,” DeWine said Thursday.
The program will “revitalize neighborhoods,” he added.
Youngstown has demolished more than 2,500 vacant houses in the past six years.
But there are plenty more that need to come down.
There are 3,236 vacant structures in Youngstown, according to figures compiled by the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, a community organizing group.
“Simply put, this is major news for the city of Youngstown and the entire Mahoning Valley,” said Phil Kidd, an MVOC organizer who’s focused on vacant properties. “Vacant and abandoned properties is of an epidemic scale, particularly in the city. Such properties are like cancer cells. They devalue adjacent property and prevent homeowners from securing insurance on their homes, forcing many with the means to leave to do so.”
The problem is too overwhelming for a city like Youngstown to handle alone, he said.
“Youngstown and communities like Youngstown have needed serious assistance to meaningfully deal with this issue for a very long time,” Kidd said. “It appears we may finally be receiving it.”
Ian Beniston, deputy director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., said this fund is “hugely important to the area.”
DeWine said there are at least 100,000 vacant homes in Ohio ready for demolition, adding that the state doesn’t know the actual number.
“I suspect it’s higher,” he said.
During a Thursday press conference, DeWine mentioned Youngstown twice and specified West Warren Avenue in the city. That South Side street is where DeWine will discuss the program further today and will tour the neighborhood.
DeWine’s office will be in charge of $97 million when the settlement funds are dispersed. In addition to the $75 million for demolition, his office will provide $20 million for grants to assist those at risk of foreclosure or those who have already lost their homes and $2 million to expand his economic crimes division to go after criminals involved in foreclosure rescue and debt-relief scams.
DeWine said settlement dollars will be directed to four areas: $102 million for Ohio borrowers seeking direct relief, including loan modifications; $44 million for victims of mortgage abuse who lost their houses between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 11, 2011; $90 million in refinanced loans for those who owe more than their house is worth; and $97 million for ongoing efforts in neighborhood revitalization and foreclosure and fraud prevention.
Federal and state agencies reached a $25 billion settlement, announced Thursday, with the nation’s five largest mortgage companies over foreclosure abuses, fraud and unacceptable practices, DeWine said.
The five banks — Ally, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo — will reduce loans for about 1 million homeowners nationwide and send checks of $2,000 to about 750,000 others who lost their homes to questionable foreclosure tactics.