Florida Topped the Third NSP Funding Round with $208.4 M

Published by nora | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Communities, Miscellaneous, Mortgage / Finance, Real Estate

The continuing challenges faced by Florida must have prompted the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department to give the state the biggest share of the $970 million granted by Congress to the states in the third funding round of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

A total of $208,437,144 was given to Florida, accounting for 21.5 percent or nearly one-fourth of the total allocation. California was far second with $149,308,651, getting 15.4 percent of the total funding nationwide. Other states got much lower allocations, as the third highest, Michigan, received $57.5 million; the fourth highest, Ohio, got $51.8 million; and the fifth highest, Georgia, received $50.4 million.  

One can appreciate more the money given to Florida if one looks at the allocations given to most other states. The lowest state allocation was $5 million, and this was the amount given to a number of states like Alaska, Alabama, Maine, Montana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming.  

To date, Florida has received more than $1.5 billion in federal funds since the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 set aside money to help the states combat the deterioration of neighborhoods due to foreclosures. Portions of previous NSP funds have not yet been spent, but officials insist they’re learning and becoming more efficient in how they’re using the funds to make the greatest impact on communities.

Within Florida, the county that got the highest allocation was Miami-Dade, receiving $20.04 million or 9.6 percent of the total state allocation. Orange County and Palm Beach County were next, with allocations of $11.6 million and $11.3 million, respectively.

Local governments have greater leeway in spending the third NSP allocation compared to the previous grants, with the following options:

• Purchase land and other real estate types
• Demolish dilapidated properties
• Rehabilitate abandoned properties
• Provide down payment and closing cost assistance
• Create land banks to manage vacant lands
• Dispose of vacant lands
• Redevelop and reuse urban properties

The third funding round will also take advantage of the First Look program recently launched by the HUD together with the National Community Stabilization Trust. First Look enables NSP grant recipients to have the priority in looking at and bidding for foreclosed properties in certain communities before others can make their own bids. These grantees are given 12 to 14 days to exclusively evaluate the homes and then offer bids. With this program, proponents hope that they are solving foreclosure-caused neighborhood problems and fulfilling the homeownership needs of low-income families at the same time. 

In addition to benefiting from the third round of NSP funds provided for in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, residents of Florida can also hope to benefit from the $1 billion in emergency home loans also provided for by this Act, details of which will be released in the coming weeks.