Brown Announces Cleveland’s Designation for New Initiative for Communities Affected by the Foreclosure Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 11, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs – today announced that Cleveland has been selected for an expanded federal initiative designed to help repair communities hit hardest by the housing crisis. Cleveland is one of six Ohio cities and 18 metropolitan areas nationwide designated for the program.

The announcement marks the expansion of the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative, which was jointly developed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the National Community Stabilization Trust. The pilot program, first launched in Detroit, MI, in May 2014, was extended earlier this year to Cook County, IL. In addition to helping stabilize neighborhoods, the initiative is also intended to reduce the inventory of foreclosed real-estate owned (REO) properties held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Click here for a fact sheet on the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative’s expansion.

The markets that were selected for the initiative’s expansion are Metropolitan Statistical Areas in which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each had at least 100 real estate owned properties valued at less than $75,000. The selected Ohio markets include Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland-Elyria, Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo. Nationwide, the following areas have been designated for the initiative:

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