The Hennepin County Board has funds for groups who are counseling tenants about their rights and safety measures. The Board has primarily two aims – save renters from being thrown out and to stop empty houses from becoming vandalized. Initially $70,000 has been sanctioned for three non-profit counseling groups. Funds will also come in from the State’s Family Housing Fund – an organization committed to see that people have roof above their heads. Earlier this year $300,00 had been invested by the county to battle foreclosures. County Commissioner hopes that this will be of some help to ward off the looming danger.

Foreclosures in the County had shot up by 82% from 2005 to 2006. It is apprehended to go up by another 84% this year – 2007. Within September 4,100 houses have been included in the foreclosure listings in Hennepin County.

A group in the county has been studying the nature of these foreclosures and concludes that at least 43% owners did not reside in the houses. In Minneapolis 60% of the units were not owner-occupied. Many had been taken up by tenants. These renters did not know that as per the law they could continue to stay in the house during six months granted for redemption. The latter follows a foreclosure sale.

Jill Alverson, manager of a taxpayers servicing agency says that the main point is that the houses do not remain empty. She is also the chairperson of the foreclosure task force. The most dangerous are empty neighbourhoods. There is nothing that gives a more secure feeling than seeing children playing, oldies walking and the young shoveling the snow from the sidewalks.

The funds from the county will be diverted to HOME Line that is the legal aid society of Minneapolis and to Centro Legal. These bodies help tenants living in the suburbs of Minneapolis and Hispanic tenants respectively.

Denise Asper-Smith is a foreclosure prevention counselor attached to Community Action partnership of Hennepin County. One of her daunting tasks is to get house owners facing foreclosures to know that this is not the end of the road – there are other avenues of escape. But the task is easier said than done. The people are so frightened that they do not want to open the mail. She wants to break the ice by experimenting with informational postcards to families in Brooklyn Park.

Search House Foreclosures

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Netvouz
  • description
  • ThisNext
  • MisterWong
  • Wists