MHP News

BOSTON, Nov. 18, 2009 --- In its ongoing effort to help communities deal with  foreclosures and abandoned properties, MHP has put together a comprehensive web page to help cities and towns stabilize distressed properties and neighborhoods.

The new web page can be easily found by going to www.mhp.net/strategies and clicking onto "Strategies for Distressed Properties and Neighborhoods".

This web page features resources to help municipalities assess the condition of their neighborhoods, define and quantify problems and implement specific strategies to combat disinvestment. Included are information tables that can be downloaded so municipalities can develop a punch-list of action items that will help them respond effectively.

"Communities throughout Massachusetts are wrestling with foreclosures, abandoned properties and the resulting disinvestment in neighborhoods," said Rita Farrell, MHP's senior advisor for community initiatives. "This web page outlines what communities can do to assess their situation, and suggests strategies to both prevent disinvestment and to stabilize neighborhoods that have been impacted by distressed properties."

This new resource is the latest in MHP's efforts to help communities deal with distressed properties. MHP is continuing to work with the Attorney General's Office to help communities understand how they can use receivership to stabilize abandoned and foreclosed properties.  MHP and the AGO have conducted six regional workshops on receivership and have produced a receivership guidebook that explains how receivership works.

MHP also publishes an on-line Foreclosure Monitor to help communities understand and respond to problems caused by foreclosures. It also has the Neighborhood Stabilization Loan Fund, which supports the acquisition of properties by developers in neighborhoods hard-hit by foreclosures. There is also Funds for Fixer-uppers, an enhanced version of the SoftSecond Loan Program that features expanded income eligibility and/or rehab loans for homebuyers purchasing foreclosed properties in eligible neighborhoods.

For more information on MHP's efforts, email MHP's Dina Vargo.