Elgin to stretch federal foreclosure grant

Right now, Elgin has more than 1,000 homes in various stages of foreclosure.

The majority of them are east of Randall Road, and 419 are east of the Fox River.

City leaders hope to use some $2.1 million in federal grant money to buy, rehab and sell eight to 10 homes on the east and near west sides.

While 10 homes is a drop in the bucket, city officials say that is just the beginning of what they can do with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Neighborhood Stabilization Grant.

Jerry Deering, the city's community development department director, said proceeds from selling homes will go back into a pot to buy, rehab and sell even more homes over the next four years. The city also is working with Habitat for Humanity to stretch the grant money.

"It's a conservative starting point. We think it will be more than that through the life of the program," he said.

Deering said that as of March 31, the city had 1,085 homes in foreclosure, which is just less than 3 percent of the city's overall housing stock.

Overall, 1,990 properties in Elgin entered foreclosure in the last 27 months. Some have been sold or auctioned or their owners, and in some cases owners renegotiated their loans.

Mayor Ed Schock wants the city to explore whether it can require a city inspection before a someone buys one of the rehabbed homes.

"I have no doubt some of the foreclosures probably contained illegal units," he said.

City officials also want to amp up educational efforts to help people manage their money so the foreclosure cycle doesn't repeat itself.

A recent workshop by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which is a counseling agency, recently drew more than 800 people to a foreclosure avoidance seminar at the Hemmens Cultural Center.

"We want this to be a holistic effort and not just plop people into a house," Councilman David Kaptain added.

Deering also encouraged residents to call the city at (847) 931-5920 to report foreclosed homes that are not being maintained on the outside.

When city leaders embark on a program, they usually look at what other towns did before them. That's not an option with this HUD grant.

"It appears we're on the leading edge of putting this together," Deering said. "They're going to be looking at what we're doing."