Dear Mayor, Members of the City Council, City Offices and Neighborhood Organizations:
We, the homeowners of north Minneapolis, wish to offer a suggestion for improving the livability of our neighborhood. We wish to offer our advocacy for our community to potential future buyers, those who hopefully will take advantage of the numerous grants to encourage home buying which are being offered through numerous channels.
We realize the asset homeowners bring to a community and we do not want to see this opportunity to stabilize the north side of Minneapolis thru higher homeownership lost. We do not wish to see more troublesome rental property; particularly the problems traditionally associated with high concentrations of poorly managed and subsidized rentals.
Policy change at the city/county/state level in rental license control and the discouragement of slumlord controlled rental property in regard to the homes of our community is a MUST.
By not working to create an effective policy to promote home ownership and advocacy of homeownership on the Northside, you are presenting to us; the residents living in the midst of this crisis, a willingness to jeopardize the millions of dollars expended thru NRP, foundations, and other community programs, as well as the future funds and revitalizing efforts within our community. All of which do not take into consideration the dollars we as homeowners have invested in our homes, neighborhood establishments as well as personal volunteer efforts we offer to create a stronger and more stable Northside.
We do not want our community to be someone's investment portfolio ever again.
It should be noted that what is good and sound for attaining stability for north Minneapolis is good policy for the city as a whole as well. The city and county have lost millions of dollars in revenue with the collapse of the North Minneapolis housing market. Properly managing the recovery efforts can have a huge impact on future revenue from this area.
We propose turning the members of the community into salespeople and community advocates to converse with potential new community members. Homeowners would be available to promote and speak to the community as advocates for their block and the community as a whole. A database could be created by our organization to offer names and contact information to realtors representing interested buyers for properties on participating blocks.
As part of the public relations and marketing campaigns of the funding programs we propose using signs or another form of labeling throughout the community in the yards of homeowners who will be advocates and offer testimony of the assets of our community.
The name of the campaign and what the signs should say has yet to be determined. We would encourage all neighborhood organizations to participate in the campaign. The funds need to be sought for this partnership and we would strongly suggest this becomes a large Northside campaign reaching beyond the "advantage" targeted communities.
We would estimate approx. 2000 to 4000 signs would be achievable, a number exceeding the total number of foreclosed and boarded homes within our neighborhoods.
Estimates for the cost of the program are yet to be determined. A range from $7000.00 to $9000.00 is an approximate pending on the final path of the program and partnerships of organizations to manage the workload database, PR, etc.
Sound public relations and a good positive PR campaign about the program, spinning "homeowners taking back the community" fighting for new neighbors and homeowners" would be a good sell and perpetuate a more "positve" image thus creating more marketability for the community.
The programs being initiated by the city, and entities without the testimonials we could offer will likely be a tough sell for potential homeowners considering the propensity of the media to portray our neighborhoods in mostly negative terms.
Although there is much promise in the housing stock of our community, having to face issues such as no plumbing, boards on windows, piles of refuse and garbage in yards present difficult marketability issues.
We suggest this ground level community advocacy by residents become part of your campaign and public relations promotions. We seek funding and partnership to make such a program possible. We would like to discuss the possibility of partnering with you and the involved agencies at the next Northside Homeowners' Association meeting April 14th, 6:30pm Folwell Park Recreation Center. If you plan to attend, please RSVP by April 7th.
We all know the severe issues facing North Minneapolis. We see a lot of promise in our community and want the opportunity to share that vision with potential neighbors.
We hope you seriously consider our proposal and plea for your assistance to aid in the stabilization of our community.
Robert Johnson
On behalf of the Northside Homeowners' Association
cc:
GMHC
Northway Community Trust
NRRC
FHF
Northside Marketing Task Force
All 13 Northside Neighborhood orgs.
Mayor R.T. Rybak
Members of Mpls. City Council
CPED
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7 comments:
I agree with everything in the letter and really hope to see some positive change coming out of this foreclosure crisis. Although, I know marketing our neighborhood will be tough. I work at a nonprofit that specialized in first time homebuyers. Many of them purchase homes in St. Paul and when I mention there are good affordable houses in Mpls, particularly North where they can access a lot of downpayment assistance they shy away from it because of the high rate of crime and the media they have seen on tv and by word of mouth. I think to really make everything work we need to work with this violence in our young kids, particularly in N Mpls and not letting investors come in our neighborhood. I think they should be banned. I know it’s excessive but we need something excessive to turn things around.
Rhonda Niola, Mortgage Processor
Community Neigborhood Housing Services Neighborworks Home Ownership Center
35 W. Water St.
Saint Paul, MN 55107
651-292-8710 x209 (phone)
651-292-0473 (fax)
Robert and all-
I love this letter that you've put together. After the last association meeting, I was struck by the air of hopelessness and negativity that seemed pervasive among the attendees, and it really got me thinking about the need to first get ourselves more positive about our community so that we can then spread that around. I understand fully that such a positive attitude faces daily challenges, but there are good things about where we live, and if we expect other people to make an investment into our community, both financially and physically as neighbors, we need to share more about the good. The City Living Home tour inspired thoughts of doing something similar involving for sale homes in the area, bringing together agents, sellers, and neighbors to really put our neighborhoods on sale. It is incredibly heartening to see similar thoughts and lets me know I am on the right track. I have been beginning to put together plans for a weekend event to do just that. So many of the homes that get listed on the northside, especially but not only the foreclosures, do not get the same level of marketing and exposure from their listing agents. Having a set and publicized time for several homes to be open at once would provide a bit of safety in numbers mentality and motivate some agents to really put forward their best feet with their listings. I have spoken with a few listing agents already who are interested in participating, and feel strongly it will be possible to get several on board. To go along with that, I want to see neighbors involved, either at homes that are open or maybe at centralized spots in different neighborhoods, to extol the virtues of their communities, and to talk with potential homebuyers, answering questions and providing realistic viewpoints, both good and bad, of living in the area. This advantage loan program can provide some additional press and motivation to stir up buyers, and we can take advantage of this. Assuming the Council doesn't muck up the program too much and does adopt it next Friday, it should be in effect sometime in early May. I would like to put together this open house tour thing for sometime in May and I would love it if you and/or the Homeowners' Association would like to be a part of this. If you would like, I would be happy to come to the April meeting and talk about it, and also if you would be interested in talking about this specific idea prior to that meeting please contact me. Email is fine, or via phone my day # is 612-673-2296 or at home is 612-521-4332.
The full Article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here.
Editorial shorts: Budget cuts will cost taxpayers a tool against mortgage fraud
MICHAEL O. FREEMAN, Star Tribune
Imagine witnessing a bank robber make off with thousands of dollars. You do your civic duty and dial 911. The police will come, talk to witnesses, take fingerprints, collect security video. If the case is solved, the robber will be prosecuted.
Now, imagine a sheriff's foreclosure sale of a house bought by a straw buyer, who has made no payments, financed through a mortgage broker, who lied and gave false financial information to the lender, and appraised by an appraiser who inflated the market value of the house. In this fraud, the seller, straw buyer, broker and appraiser combine to steal hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Imagine dialing 911.
The foreclosure sale is not an emergency. It is often difficult to figure out who took what money and who now holds the loss. But, aside from the stolen money, the foreclosed house becomes a blight on the neighborhood. The empty house may be taken over and used for drug dealing and worse. Neighboring property values decline. Tax base erodes.
Minnesota's Financial Crimes Task Force recently announced that, because of proposed state budget cuts, it will stop investigating mortgage fraud. That is a loss. Initially, the task force investigated financial fraud rings operating across a number of cities and counties. It put together cases against ringleaders.
When mortgage-fraud cases surfaced, the task force was uniquely situated to investigate. It knew how to put together complex cases involving multiple crimes by financial fraud rings. It was in a position to help already strapped local police.
A recent Housing Preservation Project study showed that 25 percent of the foreclosure sales in north Minneapolis in 2006 involved mortgages that had been in place less than a year, and 5 percent of the foreclosures in the 55411 ZIP code involved people who had three or more claimed owner-occupied residences foreclosed. The statistics strongly suggest straw buyers were involved.
The problem is not limited to central cities. Even when properties were in Minneapolis, the task force pursued fraudulent actors into suburbs where their operations were often located.
The experience and support the task force offered was invaluable to local police. Make no mistake: Fewer investigative resources and less experienced investigators means narrower investigations of fewer targets. Smart gang members and drug dealers (fortunately a small percentage) actually switched to mortgage fraud as a lower-risk, higher-reward enterprise. Proposed cuts increase the odds that crime pays while property values in neighborhoods plummet.
Already strapped police and prosecutors have stepped up. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office has redeployed experienced prosecutors, and the Hennepin County Board has provided an additional designated mortgage-fraud prosecutor. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office provided investigative assistance. Struggling suburban police made investigators available as they could. The Minneapolis Police Department will provide three additional experienced investigators to handle Minneapolis mortgage-fraud cases. The state must do its part.
State funding for the Financial Crimes Task Force is essential to holding criminals accountable, even if there is no 911 call.
Michael O. Freeman is the Hennepin County attorney.
Minneapolis foreclosure program's focus turns to repairs
STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune
Like blind men exploring an elephant, the Minneapolis City Council has had trouble figuring out just what sort of foreclosure rescue mission the city should launch.
Some on the council see the program proposed by city staffers as priming a sagging real-estate market; others want to increase home ownership. Some want any buyer to be eligible; others want to target people below income limits. Some want any house in distressed areas to qualify; others want only houses that meet tight criteria.
Minneapolis Advantage, as proposed by employees, was intended to be a pilot program to assist buyers of 50 homes in areas where housing prices have been most battered by foreclosures -- mostly the city's North Side. Judging by phone calls and e-mails, the program already has caught the public's imagination.
Despite that, the program had a remarkably hard time getting through the council's Community Development Committee last week.
For 90 minutes, 11 members of the 13-member council hashed out how the program would work with a flurry of amendments. And more may come when the full council acts on the proposal on Friday.
Here's how things look after last week's amendorama:
• The program has morphed from helping buyers with closing costs and down payment assistant to subsidizing housing fix-up.
• The buyer must live in the house within 60 days of buying the house or the completion of the work and must qualify for a prime mortgage.
• Any single-family house in one of 18 neighborhoods is eligible if it's been foreclosed, is on the city's boarded and vacant list, or has been a rental property.
• Buyers get up to $10,000 from the city for repairing or rehabbing the house they buy. That rises to $14,000 if the house is in any of three North Side neighborhoods: McKinley, Webber-Camden or Folwell. The help goes up to $33,000 if the house is in the North Side's southernmost neighborhood, Harrison. The extra amounts come from neighborhood-offered extra incentives.
• The help is structured as a zero-percent loan that's forgiven over five years if the buyer doesn't sell the house or move out.
To what end?
Despite Minneapolis Advantage already creating public buzz before being formally sent to City Hall, the council seems remarkably split on exactly what it should accomplish.
Tom Streitz, the city's housing director, wants the program kept as broad as possible, arguing that it's a $500,000 demonstration that can teach the city some lessons about where the demand is before it's expanded. The more constraints, the harder time people have qualifying, he said.
Kris Brogan agrees. "The redesigned [program] is now a rehab product that I believe will not be used. There are few buyers with sufficient downpayment and a good mortgage product who will purchase condemned properties in distressed neighborhoods," the Victory neighborhood business owner said.
But some council members opined that with only enough money for 50 homes, the program ought to be more targeted. Others wanted more houses to be eligible, including representatives from the Corcoran neighborhood, who complained that they fall just outside the program area.
Gerald Tyrrell, who lives on the 3200 block of Longfellow Avenue, offered compelling testimony that the aid could help his block deal with its six foreclosed properties.
Some council members suggested that the proposal wasn't ready for prime time and that the staff ought to poll the council to see where the consensus lay. But Cam Gordon told his fellow council members that it's up to the council to find consensus.
Normally, that work might have been done by the committee's chairwoman, Lisa Goodman, usually not shy about expressing herself. But she held back this time. First, foreclosures aren't a big issue in her downtown-Isles ward. Second, she sensed that her views of Minneapolis Advantage differed from the rest of the council's.
The income question
One of the most fascinating aspects of the debate was whether there should be income limits for those who use Minneapolis advantage. Ralph Remington argued yes; Don Samuels said no.
Samuels argued that his block would be improved if a guy like Bill Gates moved in to provide an example for low-income neighbors of how hard work and discipline pay off. But Remington said that where upper-income folks move in, poor folks get pushed out.
Their back-and-forth can be found just after the two-hour mark in a video posted at www.startribune.com/a4195.
Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438
Once again it appears our city government does what it can to maintain staus quo in n hoods of poverty and blight.
It appears that CPED, who's new Chief Tom Strietz. (formerly from MPHA), only intention os to keep all sub housing on the northside of Minneapolis. The verdict may still be out but the revisions to advantage surely do not bear well with more north side opportunity.
People should read this.
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