OHFA Annual Plan - Ohio Housing Finance Agency

• The land bank authority should have independent borrowing capacity such as taxexempt bonds or other financing mechanisms but limited to borrowing capacity basedon the security assets of the land bank authority.• Housing codes and nuisance abatement procedures for units of local government shouldallow for government expenditures on behalf of vacant or abandoned property tobecome a first priority lien on the property. This will enable the land bank to exert morecontrol on properties.• A possibility for funding the land bank authority is to allow the authority to receive 50percent of the property tax for five years on any property that is placed back on the taxduplicate.• Land bank reform was recommended by the Ohio Foreclosure Prevention Task Force in2007. Legislation to amend the state’s land bank statute was introduced in the GeneralAssembly in 2008.2) Assist land banks and vacant housing collaborations in acquiring foreclosed,REO, and other vacant properties for renovation into affordable housing anddemolition.A major issue for all Ohio cities in the OVPI report was the difficulty in both land assemblyfor immediate projects as well as longer term land banking of vacant properties, especiallyof larger scale, where current housing and neighborhood demand is presently lacking... TheOVPI recommends OHFA provide direct support for both land assembly and land bankingactivities where tied to comprehensive plans and strategic neighborhood strengtheningactivities.3) Streamline the state’s nuisance abatement receivership law and expand its useas a tool to address vacant and abandoned housing.Receivership as a nuisance abatement strategy has been in Ohio law for 24 years but hashad only moderate usage in cities outside of Cleveland due to the cumbersome natureof the process and lack of education among attorneys, local governments and nonprofithousing organizations. In addition, the absence of housing or environmental courts in manycities has made abatement of nuisance properties more challenging. Modernization of thestatute is needed to allow for efficient receipt of clear title by the receiver in cases wherethe owner has not abated the nuisance. State legislation was introduced in the Ohio Housein 2008 to address this issue. Streamlining of receivership as a nuisance abatement tool wasrecommended by the Ohio Foreclosure Prevention Task Force in 2007.4) Assist the state’s urban areas and rural counties with high incidence offoreclosures with improvements to their data collection system, data analysis andstrategy development.With the exception of a few of Ohio’s largest cities and counties, many municipalities lackthe data collection, organization and coordination strategies necessary to develop a targetedresponse to the growing numbers of vacant properties in their communities. In a time ofintense economic challenges, scarce resources must be allocated as efficiently as possible tomaximize return on public investment.OHFA should provide funding, training and technical assistance to municipalities andcounties to help them develop or improve their data collection systems and strategies toaddress vacant properties and neighborhood revitalization. First steps could be A) a needsassessment of the state’s first and second tier municipalities and counties to determinewhat’s needed and the associated cost; and B) providing or facilitating workshops for localgovernments on basic data collection methods, definitions and team approaches with othergovernment offices to share data.104