Foreclosure Response & Recovery

Preventing Foreclosures and Stabilizing Communities

Greater Minnesota Housing Fund provides funding to developers of single-family housing who turn untended, foreclosed houses into fixed-up, move-in ready homes for lower-income individuals and families and help stabilize neighborhoods.

GMHF supports efforts to stabilize and strengthen neighborhoods and communities in greater Minnesota that have experienced home foreclosures and disinvestment. Through this program, GMHF seeks to work with public and private entities to:

  • Provide sustainable homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income homebuyers.
  • Rehabilitate foreclosed homes to green and healthy building standards to foster energy conservation, improved health for families and sustainable communities.
  • Redevelop vacant, foreclosed and abandoned homes to stabilize local housing markets.
  • Augment existing local foreclosure recovery efforts.
  • Create local green jobs in the residential construction and supporting industries.
  • Engage civic minded builders and developers in community-based foreclosure recovery.

History of program

Between 2005 and 2010, one in 20 households in Minnesota faced a foreclosure, affecting nearly 100,000 families. In response to this crisis, Greater Minnesota Housing Fund made foreclosure prevention and recovery a top priority for its funding and technical assistance by taking the following actions:

  • Worked closely with the Minnesota Home Ownership Center, Family Housing Fund and Minnesota Housing since 2007 to secure more than $15 million of federal, state and philanthropic resources to dramatically increase the number of nonprofit foreclosure prevention counselors from 18 to 70 advisors.
  • Assembled new funding for the acquisition and rehabilitation of foreclosed properties in high-impact communities to support local neighborhood stabilization efforts.
  • Assisted in assembling over $22 million in funding from federal, state and philanthropic sources for foreclosure recovery and neighborhood stabilization initiatives in Greater Minnesota, including $10.8 million in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds, $6.3 million in Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Des Moines and over $5 million in private philanthropic investments.
  • Established the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) program in Greater Minnesota to enable public, private and nonprofit partners to purchase foreclosed homes directly from lenders at discounted prices to stimulate community stabilization.

Please fill out the Finance Inquiry Form if you would like more information on this program.

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