The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is set to weigh a proposal today that seeks to combat the county’s foreclosure crisis by buying, fixing and selling shuttered houses, aiding first-time buyers in finding loans, and counseling households at risk of foreclosure.
The programs would reroute millions of dollars in existing county housing funds with the hope of not only halting the proliferation of foreclosed homes, but also turning around the blight and dropping home values associated with them.
The proposal, however, is opposed by those who doubt the county’s ability to successfully insert itself into — and fix — the housing market, and critics say meddling will do more harm than good. The board’s two Republicans are expected to vote against the measure, which is nevertheless expected to pass.
“We’ve talked about it and had meetings on it before. I was pretty confident that we had a consensus that this was the right way to go,” said Dranesville District SupervisorJohn Foust, a Democrat.
More than 1,200 Fairfax County houses were in some stage of foreclosure in May, according to figures released this month from RealtyTrac. Many of those were in Herndon, which falls within Foust’s district. Foreclosures also have hit Alexandria, Springfield and Centreville hard.
“I consider myself one of the three supervisors [whose district] would benefit the most from this,” he said.
County staff has suggested the board adopt a three-pronged approach. First, housing officials would counsel at-risk households and train volunteer counselors. The goal would be to link the homeowners with their lenders to work out the loan.
The “Silver Lining” initiative would aid first-time buyers in buying a foreclosed home though the Home Equity Loan Program. The county expects up to 100 houses will be bought through the plan.
As part of the third approach, the county would buy up to 10 foreclosed homes “identified as abandoned, deteriorated or a destabilizing force on the neighborhood.” The structures would be revamped, then sold to first-time buyers or nonprofits.
Chairman Gerry Connolly, the program’s chief proponent could not be reached Friday.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, a critic of how the board allocates its $23 million affordable housing fund, supports the foreclosure counseling, but opposes both the Silver Lining initiative and the home-purchase plan.
“It’s a dumb idea,” he said of the latter proposal. “And I’m glad to see it’s been scaled back to ten.”
