Atlanta to use HUD grant to purchase foreclosed homes

December 19, 2008 at 2:11 pm by Thomas Wheatley in News

In late September, the City of Atlanta announced that it expected to receive at least $12.3 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to acquire and redevelop abandoned and foreclosed homes and residential properties.

The city’s Community Development/Human Resources committee met yesterday to discuss the issue.

Odette Yousef of WABE reports:

At a committee worksession, housing bureau officials gave the conservative estimate that the funds could be used to get homeowners into 157 homes. The city hopes that those homeowners will get mortgages that will help replenish the fund, up to 70%… and that could help save 100 or so more homes.

While that’s definitely a help, it won’t be enough to solve the problem. Yousef says the city reported 27,000 foreclosure filings between January 2006 and July of 2008. To hear and read the report, visit WABE’s site.