Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Reid, Goodman tour foreclosed homes, present remedy

Foreclosure Tour

Sen. Harry Reid addresses reporters on a plan to end the housing crisis for Las Vegas. Reid is standing outside a foreclosed home in the hardest hit neighborhood, zip code 89131. Launch slideshow »

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman toured the Las Vegas neighborhood with the most foreclosures today and revealed a plan to reverse the damage.

The neighborhood, at Zip Code 89131, contains two-story middle class homes. Reid said that when he was practicing law and looking for a home, the neighborhood was too expensive for his family β€” and now the value of these homes has fallen more than 25 percent.

During the neighborhood tour, one resident ran up to Goodman and explained that her home was valued at $430,000 and she would be lucky to get $315,000-310,000 for it today.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Plan (NSP) was established through the $70 million Nevada received from Congress through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. The City of Las Vegas is expected to receive $14.7 million and Henderson will receive $3.2 million.

The NSP will be administered by the department of Housing and Urban Development and will be presented to Las Vegas City Council Nov. 19 and the funds should be available by January, according to Reid.

The preliminary outline for the plan allocates the money in three separate sets: a portion of the funds will go toward a mortgage assistance program, another portion will go toward a lease-to-own program and another portion will go to create partnerships with local nonprofits and secure professional services, like appraisals, housing credit counselors and brokers. In order for households to benefit from the mortgage assistance and lease-to-own programs, they must earn 120 percent of an area's median income or below.

β€œIt takes 100 days for a foreclosure to go into effect, we need to do something before that happens,” Reid said.

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