Experts say that decline in California foreclosure activity is not just a seasonal decline.

New foreclosure filings, including Notice of Default (NOD) and Notice of Trustee Sale, declined significantly in December 2009 as compared to the prior month.

While Notices of Default dropped a significant 17.5% during December 2009, they actually dropped 32.5% on a daily average basis. This is due to the fact that December had 22 days on which documents were recorded, vs. 18 days in November.

According to ForeclosureRadar, we have not seen a similar December drop in recent years, so this is not simply a regular seasonal decline. The graph below shows the Notice of Default and Notice of Trustee Sale trends from July 2008 through December 2009.

Sales to third parties, or investors on the courthouse steps, are also declining, with December sales 28.89% less than in November. Experts say that this is due to a significant decrease in foreclosure discounting by lenders, rather than a lack of interest by the investors. Again, remember that the number of working days in December was less than November, so these percentages are actually higher when calculated on a daily average basis.

On the downside, it seems the promises of the Obama administration are failing, as pre-foreclosures continue to rise instead of being eliminated by workout programs like the Making Home Affordable Program. No shocker here, as most of the Federal programs to date have fallen way short of their stated goals in helping homeowners in distress.

The foreclosure inventories show mixed results, with estimated preforeclosure inventories remaining relatively stable at a 0.4% increase over November, bank owned (REO’s) showing a modest decline of 2.64%, and homes scheduled for auction showing a modest increase of 3.41%.

Los Angeles County remains the highest area in the state for foreclosures, but then it’s one of the most populated counties as well. Notices of Default (NOD’s) declined sigificantly, with new NOD’s filed at the rate of 5,495 in December 2009 as compared to 8,622 in December 2008. Notices of Trustee’s Sale went in the opposite direction, with 6,071 in December 2009 and 5,155 in December 2008. Other California counties with significant foreclosure activity include San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside and Orange.

First Look program aims to build stronger communities by allowing owner occupants a better chance at buying foreclosed properties.

Fannie Mae’s new First Look program gives non-investor homebuyers a 15-day edge over investors for newly listed foreclosure properties. This is great news for homebuyers who have had troubles getting their offers accepted when competing against all-cash investor-buyers.

Under the new First Look program, only offers from owner occupants and buyers using public funds (or government enties) will be considered during the first 15 days a property is on the market. After that initial 15 day period expires, then the investor-buyers can come in and make offers as well.

In some areas, this program is being used in combination with Neighborhood Stabilization Programs (NSP) to provide down payment assistance to qualified homebuyers. NSP funds are also being used in partnership with other nonprofits to fix up foreclosed homes and then offer them for sale to low to moderate income buyers in conjunction with other assistance programs.

In the Santa Clarita area we don’t see a lot of Fannie Mae foreclosures, but this does give first time homebuyers a better chance at avoiding the all-too-common bidding wars where low down payment or FHA buyers typically lose out to investors.

Santa Clarita Realtor Linda Slocum is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) specializing in Santa Clarita residential real estate, foreclosures and short sales. You can reach her at 661.670.0349 or at Linda@SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com. To search for Santa Clarita homes, use our neighborhood search tools or visit HoneyStartPacking.com.

Borrowers who don’t qualify for other loan workout programs to be offered new Deed for Lease option.

Fannie Mae has announced a new Deed for Lease Program (D4L) where distressed homeowners who cannot qualify for other loan workout solutions will be able to trade their deed for a market-rate lease. While this seems just peachy on the surface, in many areas this may mean HIGHER payments for many borrowers, where lease rates are higher than what their modified mortgage would be.

In order to qualify for the program, homeowners must be able to show that they can make the lease payments by documenting that the monthly rental is no more than 31 percent of their gross income. Huh… seems if they could do that, then they probably wouldn’t be in trouble with their mortgages in the first place, especially in high-rent areas like the Santa Clarita Valley!

The property itself must also qualify for the D4L program, with the following limitations:

• If there are expensive repairs to be done, the property may not qualify for the program.
• If the HOA or zoning in an area prohibits rentals, then Fannie Mae will not be able to rent the home back to the current homeowner. Seems if there is already a tenant in the property in violation of the HOA or zoning rules, then the tenant would automatically be evicted.
• Fannie Mae may opt to forego the rental option if the market rent is not enough to cover ongoing maintenance and management costs.

For the homeowner or current tenant to qualify for the D4L program:

• Homeowner or tenant must be able to document that the proposed rent is no more than 31 percent of their gross income.
• Property inspections must show that the homeowner or tenant are maintaining the home in good condition. [Many distressed homeowners allow homes to fall into disrepair, allowing children to do things like using Magic Markers on the walls.]
• The occupants signing the lease must agree to a credit review and all occupants over the age of 18 must have an acceptable background check, including receiving clearance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
• There must be no signs of criminal activity in the house. [I'm assuming this means drugs?]
• The home must be used as the homeowner’s or tenant’s primary residence.

It appears that this program is more geared towards keeping tenants in investment properties than it is to keep homeowners in their homes, since tenants are often displaced without much notice when the bank forecloses on a rental property. The new Fannie Mae leases will be for 12 months, with possible extensions on a month-to-month basis after that.

Fannie Mae’s VP Jay Ryan says of the Deed for Lease program, “This new program helps eliminate some of the uncertainty of foreclosure, keeps families and tenants in their homes during a transitional period, and helps to stabilize neighborhoods and communities.”

The initial concept of this program was released in January 2009, and at that time it appeared that the properties would be foreclosed upon and that the maintenance of the rental properties would fall on the Realtors® assigned by the bank to handle those REOs. The new wording appears to indicate that Fannie Mae would be responsible for hiring management companies to handle the T&T’s (tenants and toilets) instead.

So who benefits from this new program? Likely the existing tenants will to some extent, at least if they are already paying rent at near-market rates and they’re keeping the properties in good condition. Seems the biggest winners in the D4L program will be the management companies selected to maintain this new crop of rental properties.

How short sales and foreclosures affect your credit report and FICO scores.

Both short sales and foreclosures have negative impacts on borrower’s credit reports, but a foreclosure is much more difficult to recover from. After a foreclosure, it will also take considerably longer to restore your credit rating once your financial difficulties are resolved than it would with a short sale.

Foreclosures, Including Deed-In-Lieu Foreclosures

Expect a loss of between 200-280 points on your FICO scores. A pre-foreclosure FICO of 675 could drop to as low as 395, essentially eliminating you from future credit approvals. It may be as long as three years before you can qualify for another home loan.

Short Sales

Expect some credit score damage, but nowhere near as much as with a foreclosure. FICO score reductions will be around 75-125 points and your credit report will show it as a ‘pre-foreclosure in redemption’ which is far less negative than a foreclosure. You will most probably be able to secure a new home loan in about a year and a half.

If you are considering a short sale, be sure to discuss your options with both your lender and a qualified Realtor. Choosing a Realtor who is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) to handle your short sale will help to streamline the process for you. The short sale process can be quite convoluted, and selecting the right Realtor to represent you can be critical in both getting your short sale approved and in reducing your stress levels during the short sale process.

Santa Clarita Realtor Linda Slocum is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) specializing in Santa Clarita residential real estate and short sales. You can reach her at 661.670.0349 or at Linda@SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com. To search for Santa Clarita homes, use our neighborhood search tools or visit HoneyStartPacking.com.

New Payment Reduction Plan (PRP) will be available to investors and owners of second homes.

Fannie Mae has announced that it will start helping out residential investors by offering temporary payment relief, or forbearance, while the servicer and the borrower work together to find the appropriate permanent foreclosure prevention solution.

The new Payment Reduction Plan (PRP) will replace the current HomeSaver Forbearance (HSF), which will be retired on October 31. This will allow investors and owners of second homes to obtain assistance, where before they were generally excluded from any assistance programs. Borrowers must first verify that they’re not eligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) before applying for the new PRP program.

The biggest difference between the two programs, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Payment Reduction Plan (PRP) is the size of the maximum payment reduction. Under HSF, the homeowner’s payments could be reduced by 50 percent and with PRP the maximum reduction is only 30 percent.

Why the new program? While many are not willing to bear the pain of the investor’s ‘poor decision’ to buy a rental home in the first place, the fact is that many renters are ending up with nowhere to live when the homes they are occupying end up being sold at foreclosure auctions. This has raised a lot of concern in the foreclosure market, with previous suggestions including allowing tenants to stay in homes after foreclosure while they are being marketed for sale as bank-owned, or REO, properties.

Banks are no longer allowed to require buyers to use the bank’s choice of escrow and title services on REO’s.

It’s Happy Dance time again! Gone are the days when buyers of bank-owned (or REO) properties are forced to deal with the seller’s (bank’s) choice of escrow and title services.

The newly-signed Buyer’s Choice Act (AB 957) prohibits a seller who acquired property at a foreclosure sale from requiring a buyer to purchase title and escrow services from a company chosen by the seller as a condition to receiving offers or selling the property. The bank/seller can still suggest title escrow and title companies for the buyer to use, but they can no longer mandate which escrow and title companies are used. 

These new rules do not apply to all investors purchasing foreclosures at auction and then reselling them. Per the new rules: a seller is defined as a mortgagee or beneficiary under a deed of trust who acquired title to the property at a foreclosure sale, including a trustee, agent, officer or other employee of any mortgagee or beneficiary. Or, in other words, the new rules are limited to homes that are taken back by the bank or other lender who originally had an interest in the property, or REO’s. If Joe Investor buys a home at auction on the courthouse steps, he is not affected by this new rule unless he had a previous interest in this property as a mortgagee (lender).

This is a HUGE change, since previously buyers were forced to suffer with out of area (and often out of county) escrow companies who took 2+ weeks just to get the intial escrow order processed and escrow opened.  Some of these companies had created virtual sweat shops where each office only handled a single task, so the file was passed around… and around… and around before finally reaching a desk where someone actually had some control over the file. This meant delays in closings, errors on escrow docs and other frustrations that could have easily been avoided. Buyers who wanted to close earlier than originally planned were often prohibited from doing so, since the bank’s escrow companies were operating on schedules based on the originally scheduled close date and couldn’t seem to manage to alter their paper flow to allow for any changes to this.

So what’s to stop a bank from requiring that the buyer use the bank’s choice of services anyways? The new rules state that a seller who violates the new law is liable to the buyer for three times all charges made for the title insurance or escrow service. In addition, a seller who violates the law is also considered to have violated their licensing law. That’s not to say that they won’t incentivize the buyer to use their services anyways, since by virtue of sheer volume the banks have negotiated discounted rates with escrow and title companies that they could theoretically pass on to the buyers in order to retain control. But… since this ruling was just signed on October 12, it’s too soon to tell on this.

The Buyer’s Choice Act (AB 957) was signed and immediately effective on October 12, 2009 and expires on January 1, 2015 unless extended by the Legislature.

Santa Clarita Realtor Linda Slocum is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) specializing in Santa Clarita residential real estate and short sales. You can reach her at 661.670.0349 or at Linda@SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com. To search for Santa Clarita homes, use our neighborhood search tools or visit HoneyStartPacking.com.

FDIC’s new ‘toolkit’ provides easy access to consumer resources relating to foreclosures, loan modifications, and foreclosure scams.

FDIC’s new Foreclosure Prevention Toolkit really doesn’t have any new info, but it does put it all in one convenient location for easy access.

Included in the Toolkit are the following:

• Brochure: Is Foreclosure Knocking at Your Door? Information about loan modification programs.
• Brochure: Beware of Foreclosure Rescue Scams. Let’s face it, this market has created a lot of scams, and it helps to be aware of them before sending a chunk of your money down a big sinkhole.
• FDIC Consumer News Spring Edition. Updates on foreclosure scams and more.
• FDIC Homeowner Training: Your Own Home module. How to seek help to avoid foreclosure and steer clear of scams.

Santa Clarita Realtor Linda Slocum is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) specializing in Santa Clarita residential real estate and short sales. You can reach her at 661.670.0349 or at Linda@SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com. To search for Santa Clarita homes, use our neighborhood search tools or visit HoneyStartPacking.com.

Wells Fargo exec uses bank-owned Malibu home for her personal benefit.

Wells Fargo executive Cheronda Guyton has just been busted for using a recently-foreclosed Malibu mansion as her personal Party Central this summer.

The home, valued at about $12 million, was handed back to the bank with an agreement that it would be held off the market for an agreed-upon period of time. So, with that in mind and a guarantee that the house would be vacant for a while, Cheronda apparently moved right in.

Ms. Guyton was in charge of foreclosed properties for Wells Fargo, and has apparently been terminated from Wells Fargo as a result of this incident. Wells Fargo’s official statement indicates that Ms. Guyton was acting alone in this, so no other employees were terminated.

Sorry, guys, seems this up-and-coming Bachelorette will be off the market for a while!

Loan Modifications can help homeowners stay in their homes during difficult times.

With more and more Santa Clarita homeowners experiencing financial difficulties due to changing job situations and other factors beyond their control, loan modifications may be the best way for many people to reduce their monthly payments so they can stay in their homes.

What is a loan modification?

A loan modification is a temporary fix to assist with changing financial situations, not a long-term fix, nor a gift from the bank to reduce your mortgage balance to the current market value. Generally you’ll need to show some sort of recent financial hardship in order to qualify for a loan mod, such as a reduction in income (job loss, a new job at lower pay, lower commissions or bonuses, or lower self-employed income), a change in family status (new baby or divorce), medical hardship, mandatory relocation, or similar situations that would affect your family’s income.

What steps does it take to get a loan modification?

• Patience! Loan mods don’t happen overnight. It could be weeks, or it could be a couple of months, before the bank will tell you what they’re willing to offer for the new terms of your loan. Plan on spending a lot of time on the phone with the bank initially, as you get them to open your loan mod request and answer any questions that they may have. Hold times can be lengthy, so take a chill pill and hang out for a while until you can talk with a live person.
• Current Financial Information. Be prepared to go over all of your financial information with the bank’s representative, including your current income, balances in bank accounts, monthly expenses (in detail) and your projected income if you’re currently unemployed or self-employed.
• Hardship Letter. The bank may not request this in writing, but they will want to know what changed (other than the value of your home) that makes it so you can’t meet your current mortgage obligations. Be prepared to provide details in case they ask. The most common hardships are job losses or reduction in employment income and medical situations.
• Documentation. Be prepared to provide copies of your recent bank statements, tax returns, pay stubs and W-2’s. Include all pages of your tax returns and bank statements, not just the first pages. Also provide a copy of a current utility bill to show that you’re still living in the home instead of renting it out to someone else. Don’t leave any bank accounts out hoping that they won’t find them. You don’t want to be nabbed for fraud later!
• Follow-up. Check in with your bank once a week or so once you’ve submitted your request for a loan modification. This lets them know that you’re being proactive in getting this situation resolved, and it also gives them the opportunity to clear any open items that may be in pending status in your file. Do remember to verify that they have not scheduled a foreclosure auction date while you have them on the phone – this should be put on hold during the loan modification process, but sometimes this can slip through the cracks.
• Negotiation. If you don’t like the loan modification terms that you’re presented with initially, ask them to make changes!

How much does it cost to get a loan modification?

NOTHING. Zilch. Nada. Zip. You can call the bank and do this on your own. Or you can pay someone $1,000 per hour to sit on hold with the bank for you. Your choice.

If your bank is being uncooperative, first ask to speak to a supervisor to make sure you’re not dealing with an employee with attitude problems. If you have no income now and can’t show that you’ll have income in the foreseeable future, then a loan modification may not be possible, and you may need to consider a short sale instead. Do remember to be pleasant with the bank reps, they’re doing the best they can to help you out, and getting pissy with them won’t get you anywhere.

Be aware that Realtors can be of some help in getting you through the loan modification process, but generally they are not loan mod experts, nor are they allowed to collect up-front fees for this type of service. If you’re calling the Realtor who helped you buy your home, chances are they’ll be willing to help you with the first steps of the loan modification process as a courtesy. If you’re just calling someone out of the blue without any prior relationship, don’t expect them to spend hours on the phone with you free of charge. They have bills to pay just like you do, and there are only so many working hours in each day.

If decide to hire an attorney who asks for an up front fee, be sure to do your research before you get out your check book. An attorney cannot guarantee to get you better terms than you could get by yourself, regardless of what their ads may say, although some homeowners have reported good results from having attorneys assist with their loan modifications. If a Realtor asks for an up front before they’ll look at your situation, run the other way, as Realtor’s are prohibited from this sort of action.

What if you’re not willing to accept the terms of the loan modification?

Negotiate! See if the bank will change their terms. If not, then it may be time to consider a short sale instead.

Does the mortgage need to be in default before asking for a loan modification?

No, you don’t need to be late on your mortgage payments to request a loan modification. Some banks will argue that if you don’t have at least one missed payment, then you’re clearly not in trouble yet, so do be prepared to show that your ability to continue to make on-time payments will be impaired in the near future.

What about filing bankruptcy?

Many banks strictly prohibit both loan modifications and short sales if a homeowner has an active bankruptcy filing. Some will allow the bankruptcy if the home is excluded, but most will flat-out refuse to negotiate a short sale or loan modification while a bankruptcy is in progress. Some of this comes down to timing, with many bankruptcy attorneys suggesting that the bankruptcy filing be delayed until after the house situation has been resolved, either through a loan modification or a short sale. Consult a qualified bankruptcy attorney for further advice on this.

What if a short sale turns out to be the best option?

If you decide to do a short sale, be sure to hire a Realtor who knows their way around this convoluted process, preferably one who has their CDPE designation (Certified Distressed Property Expert) and some experience with short sales. Don’t worry about commissions and escrow fees on a short sale, they’re paid by the bank anyways. Hire the best Realtor you can find so you’ll have a higher chance of getting the short sale approved and closed. This is not the time to be using family or friends to sell your home, unless they have the proper qualifications and experience with short sales.

Expect to pay nothing out of pocket to do a short sale, and expect nothing in your pocket as the result of a short sale. Don’t expect (or accept) charges for “short sale service fees” that you’ll pay out of your own funds. Yes, short sales do take more time and effort to process than regular sales do, but taking advantage of the situation by charging significant service fees for short sale transactions brings up the question of ethics. Click on these links for more information on prohibited service fees, foreclosure rescue scams and short sales. 

Santa Clarita Realtor Linda Slocum is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) specializing in the Santa Clarita Valley. You can reach her at 661.670.0349 or at Linda@SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com. This article is for information purposes only, and should not to be considered to be legal advice. 

Santa Clarita hopes to boost the local economy by implementing a new 21-point plan to allocate, generate and re-allocate funds to new projects.

In an effort to boost the local Santa Clarita economy, the Santa Clarita City Council has approved a 21-point plan aimed at improving the general economic outlook of the Santa Clarita area. Projects range from infrastructure improvement and encouraging the use of Enterprise Zone tax credits to the City giving itself (i.e. Bob Kellar) permission to get into the residential real estate business in the City’s name.

Seems some of these 21 items have definite merit, and others appear to have been added just to get to the magic number of 21. Highlights of the plan are defining the use of Federal funds for infrastructure and other upgrades, micro-loans for highly-qualified low-risk businesses, a new film incentive program, streamlining the development and permit processes, and programs to help homeowners improve their neighborhoods (the ongoing Extreme Neighborhood Makeover program). The scariest aspect of the plan is the authorization for the City to purchase homes (residential real estate) to either fix and flip or rent out (how do you spell conflict of interest?).

Here are the basics of the 21-point plan:

1. Enterprise Zones: $50k has been set aside to market the use of Enterprise Zones more effectively. Enterprise Zones allow businesses to claim tax credits for hiring and other activities, which makes it more attractive to do business within the City of Santa Clarita.
2. Recycling Market Development Zones (RMDZ): Designed to encourage the use of recycled materials in product manufacturing, RMDZ’s encourage reduction of waste from manufacturing. Qualifying businesses are eligible for low interest loans, financial assistance referrals, and waste exchange. City staffers will help design new marketing brochures for the RMDZ program, at no additional cost to the City.
3. Think Santa Clarita and Shop Local Programs: $250k has been set aside for marketing efforts within the Santa Clarita area and extending into the Los Angeles area, using direct mail, cable tv, bus benches and the like. Per the City’s propaganda: “The greater Los Angeles outreach will promote Santa Clarita as THE place to shop, locate a business and live as a way to import sales tax revenue, attract businesses that may not know of our low tax environment, and attract homebuyers with higher incomes who may not know of our excellent schools, parks, commuter services, quality of life, etc.”
4. Film Incentive Program: $200k has been set aside, including $50k in tax rebates for film-related hotel stays, to incentivize increased film production in the Santa Clarita area. Santa Clarita is within the “30 mile zone” for filming, and this incentive is an attempt to attract more feature filming to the area. There is already a lot of filming in the area, including Stevenson Ranch being used as “Weeds” on the popular tv show.
5. SBDC Program for Business: $100k has been set aside for micro-loans for businesses who do not qualify for regular SBA loans and are low-risk borrowers.
6. Westfield Partner Program: $100k has been set aside in the form of potential lost revenues to explore possible incentives for Westfield to expand and thus add more sales tax revenues to the area.  Incentives could be in the form of a rebate or future expansion permit subsidization.
7. Development Process: $500k has been set aside to help streamline the development process within the City of Santa Clarita. This plan includes implementing technology solutions to accept plans and permits electronically, streamlining permit processes, formalizing a free one-stop review for projects, and relocating related City permitting services to the first floor for of the City Hall building as “Development One Stop”.
8. Incentives for Business that Create Jobs: $50k has been set aside to subsidize permit fees for business that create “quality” jobs.
9. Event Sponsorship Program: Creates a multi-year program where businesses could support City events (i.e. Concerts in the Parks) and enjoy the marketing from these sponsorships for a longer term with deferred payments. Or, in other words, sign up for a 5-year contract and postpone all payments until Year 2. Financial impact is not projected for this item. [Deja vu from the Vital Express scandal with the Performing Arts Center... will companies take the Year 1 freebie and then walk away?]
10. Staff Re-Allocation: Move staff from other areas within the City to the Economic Development area to implement new and ongoing programs. This would shift $250k in costs to Economic Development.
11. WorkSource Center Restructuring: This program will be moved to the Economic Development Division, and will work to create alliances and seek funding for the WorkSource program.
12. Business District Improvements: $2 million has been set aside to improve signage and upgrade street medians in the City’s primary sales tax-generating areas, the Valencia Town Center Mall and the Valencia Auto Center. Other areas that may receive a portion of these funds are the Bouquet Canyon area from Soledad to Seco, Railroad Ave. from Via Princessa to Bouquet Junction, the corner of Newhall Ranch Rd. and Copperhill, the Centre Pointe area, and the intersection of Sierra Highway and Via Princessa.
13. Stimulus Dollars for Infrastructure Projects: Over $10.3 million in secured Federal funds has been put aside for City infrastructure projects, including bridge rehabilitation, traffic circulation and improvements, expansion of parking at the Newhall Metrolink station, and the McBean regional transit center Park and Ride.
14. Stimulus Dollars for Non-Infrastructure Projects: Over $3.2 million in secured Federal funds has been set aside fund projects that support businesses, including justice (COBRA), community development block grants (CDBG), energy efficiency and conservation, and neighborhood stabilization.
15. Economic Development Corporation: The City will explore the formation of an Economic Development Corporation, with costs to be determined. Per the City: “One function of EDC would be implementation of registry of all businesses to maximize business-to-business opportunities, to more accurately identify business industry clusters, and to identify potential attraction targets from vendor/supplier, customer chain.”
16. “Give Me 10″ Promotion: Increases the City’s incentives to buy local from 5% to 10%, and supplements the Shop Local program. Encourages other organizations to offer discount programs as well (COC, school districts, HMNMH, etc). [Not sure how different this is from the 25Score program?]
17. Hotel Business Improvement District (BID): $400k has been allocated to create a new Hotel Business Improvement District, to be funded from new revenues generated by an additional 2% hotel tax. Funds would be used to attract additional economic high impact events to the Santa Clarita, such as the current AMGEN Tour and others.
18. Old Town Newhall Facades: $150k has been allocated to create new facades in the Old Town Newhall area. [Don't get me started on this black hole... I still don't see why someone would go out of their way to travel to Newhall to shop when it is so far from the freeways, and the economic study to support this project was counting on over 50% of the projected revenues to be generated from people 30+ minutes away.]
19. Use Tax Incentive for Business Expansion: Sets up a program where businesses can offer a $20k one-time use tax payment to the City (which is like sales tax and is generally charged for items purchased without sales tax, typically from out of state), and get half of that allocated back to them as payment for permit fees or other rebates. [HUH? Not sure what the benefit is for this from the business owner's standpoint.] Cost for this program would be potential lost revenues.
20. Neighborhood Stabilization Program: Almost $1.2 million has been allocated, supposedly to help areas that have been hit hardest by foreclosures. According to the City, “Funds can be used to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed homes to sell or rent to lower income buyers; demolish blighted structures; and assist in redevelopment efforts for both residential and commercial properties.” [Kudos to the programs to assist homeowners in improving their homes, but wondering what can be scarier than the City going into the residential real estate biz? Why not let investors and regular buyers buy and fix these homes instead?]
21. One Valley One Vision (OVOV) Economic Element: Creates a stand-alone element of the OVOV plan to adress economic concerns. There are no stated costs for this program.