OHFA Annual Plan - Ohio Housing Finance Agency

Vacant HousingBackground DataAs of September 30, 2008, statewide Ohio has a total of 212,419 vacant residentialproperties according to the US Post Office data, which uses a definition of houses wheremail has not been collected for three months. ReBuild Ohio and Community ResearchPartners also identified a number of factors for the vacant property crisis, including job andpopulation losses, an older housing stock, foreclosures and subprime lending, and propertytax delinquencies in Ohio.Foreclosures in particular are widely seen as a major driver of the large numbers ofvacant homes in Ohio. The impact on neighborhoods, particularly in weak market cities, isdevastating. The cost of vacant homes to Ohio’s cities is a major burden. In 2007, ReBuildOhio reported that $64 million in costs to eight local governments from demolition andboarding, grass cutting and trash pickup, fire and police runs, tax losses, and additionalcode enforcement. And demolition cost for a single unit residential structure in the state ofOhio ranges from $6,000 to $8,000.Local governments, both large and small, are further struggling to track vacant properties.Cleveland’s Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing (NEOCANDO) project at Case Western Reserve University, have model systems capable oftracking and even preventing foreclosures and vacancies, while others do not have thecapacity to quantify vacant properties.Additional challenges include the use of various definitions and measurements for vacant,abandoned and nuisance properties and lack of defined key terms in use, creating achallenge for local and state policy makers, according to Roberta Garber, Executive Directorof Community Research Partners. Currently municipalities gather most of their dataduring code enforcement activities. For example, Cleveland, Toledo, and Dayton examineutility shut off and reconnection data and attempt to compare the data with county leveldata, such as tax liens. Other concerns include the prevention of tenant evictions due toforeclosures and the development of quick means to move vacant, tax delinquent propertyto local land banks and collaboratives so that properties can be quickly conveyed toresponsible owners.SynopsisThe State of Ohio has taken steps to address the issues associated with vacant housing;specific programs and collaborations include:• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) NeighborhoodStabilization Program (NSP): Ohio will receive $258 million; funds are distributed aspart of a short-term stimulus package approved by Congress and the President; fundingmust be committed within 18 months and spent within three years.• Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA): provides financing for rehabilitation ofvacant housing through the Housing Credit Program, Housing Development AssistanceProgram and Housing Development Gap Financing.• Ohio Community Development Finance Fund: $1 million loan pool for acquisitionand holding costs (LANDLOC) from the Ohio Housing Trust Fund.27