Rules eased for communities to buy foreclosed properties

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The federal government said Friday it was relaxing some housing rules to make it easier for communities to spend funds on redeveloping abandoned and foreclosed properties.

The changes, effective immediately, will allow cities, counties, and states to buy properties in mortgage default and uninhabitable homes with lingering code violations through the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was started in the midst of the nation's foreclosure crisis in 2009.

But a year later, about a third of more than 300 local governments that got grants have barely made a dent in them, according to a recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Now a community can buy a property that is at least 60 days delinquent on its mortgage if the owner has been notified, or if the property owner is 90 days or more delinquent on tax payments.

HUD also expanded the definition of an abandoned property to include homes where no mortgage or tax payments have been made for at least 90 days or a code-enforcement inspection has determined that the property is not habitable and the owner has taken no corrective action.

"It became clear to us that the Neighborhood Stabilization Program as originally designed was too restrictive and limited the ability of our local partners to put this funding to work quickly," Mercedes Marquez, HUD's assistant secretary for community planning and development, said in a statement.

James Miller, spokesman for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which received $91 million to distribute to 24 cities and counties, called Friday's announcement wonderful news.

"It just broadens the pool of available properties that local governments can target," he said. "This opens up more possibilities for them."

Buying a foreclosed home can be complicated, and the new rules will make it easier for communities by giving them a broader pool of houses.