Tallmadgeexpress.com - City purchases property for $1: Sunset View residence has been in foreclosure since 2005

by Dan Kadar

Reporter

Tallmadge -- Apparently, $1 can still go a long way.

City Council approved an ordinance Sept. 27 allowing the city to bid for the property at 849 Sunset View Blvd. for $1 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The property has been in foreclosure since 2005.

To be eligible to purchase the land, the city has to go through an application process with the Chapman Law Firm, which handles the HUD program in Ohio and Michigan.

Annette Ruffin, a marketing representative for Chapman Law Firm, said the deal should be completely finalized in three weeks.

Law Director Penny Taylor said she was unsure exactly what the city plans on doing with the property. Currently, there is a 1,040-square-foot home built in 1951 and appraised for $84,000 there.

"The city will probably raze it, but Council will have to authorize that razing," Taylor said. "Anytime we acquire property, we just don't go in and tear it down. If we do that, we'll have to decide whether we want to sell it. If we did, we would have to come up with a program and who would be allowed to buy it."

Director of Public Service David Kline said he was made aware of the property by Mosholder Realty. There was a window beginning Sept. 17 where Taylor had to put in a bid application for the home by midnight on Sept. 27.

The city has to provide HUD with its plans for the property within a year of the purchase. Housing and Urban Development rules say all profits and proceeds from the sale of HUD homes "will go to support local housing/community development initiatives."

Taylor said the city could raze the property and keep it just as park land. It could also be sold and the money would be put into a grant program to help improve properties for low income residents.

"We're really flexible, as long as we do proper reporting and it meets HUD's goals," she said, adding, "I don't think we'll have a problem with it."

The city also has to provide information on what "programs or uses" the property will support as well as provide an annual report to HUD's Homeownership Center on each property purchased under the program.

If the city doesn't comply with the guidelines, it can be removed from the program.

The program was started to help cities create housing for families in need and to benefit neighborhoods. The HUD homes are eligible for sale only to local governments whenever the Federal Housing Administration is unable to sell them in six months or more.

"They're acquiring so many foreclosed properties that they're having a hard time getting rid of them," Taylor said.

This is the first $1 HUD home the city has acquired.

"Their goal is to attempt to promote and encourage low to moderate income families to purchase the house," Taylor said.

Information on homes for sale in Ohio through HUD is available at www.clfres.com, Chapman Law Firm's Web site.

Taylor said she may expand the search parameters outside to the 44278 ZIP code and into the small areas of the city in Portage County or some properties along Brittain Road where the front is in Akron and the back is in Tallmadge.

"If we get into this thing, I'll probably expand my search, but for right now I'm sticking with Tallmadge," Taylor said. "We'll probably try to watch this Web site now and see if there's anything else we can do to help the community."

E-mail:dkadar@recordpub.co

Phone:330-686-3911