Homestead Renewal Program

There is plenty of property is this country for everyone to be able to feel the pride of home ownership. We propose the homestead renewal act that will combine aspects of government that currently exist. The Federal government currently provides housing through at least two means. Military housing is provided for active duty servicemen and their families. Civilian housing is provided to low income families through the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program.

Many homes and apartment building in big cities like Detroit are being torn down simply because people are not occupying the structures (). Meanwhile, millions () of people sit in homeless shelters and rentals wanting only the pride of home-ownership. If people do not pay their property taxes for a certain number of years, the property is repossessed by the county and sold at auction to the highest bidder. This allows the rich to simply get richer because they can buy the property and quickly resell it at a higher price or use these lands as rental properties. Instead of offering this incentive for the rich to get richer, we propose that any repossessed property becomes part of a homestead renewal act.

We propose that the Federal government, working through the HUD program, buy properties that are repossessed due to unpaid taxes from counties. Instead of the government giving money to land-lords, they retain that money by offering the housing they own to low income families. Additionally, the Federal government could develop properties that they own to create more housing. Instead of using high priced contractors, the Federal government could use the military and even hire ordinary people to build these homes. These workers would receive a voucher for their labor. This voucher could be redeemed for cash value compensation, or it could be applied toward the purchase of a government home that the worker helped build.

Criteria will be followed in the construction process to ensure that the homes meet the standards developed for structural integrity, energy conservation, and functionality. A single structural engineer can oversee each site for safety purposes. These engineers can have a set salary to encourage qualified people to participate. There would be oversight through audits to assess the performance of these engineers.

The primary difference between the homestead renewal program and the current HUD program is twofold. First, this plan fully utilizes abandoned homes and helps to rebuild communities. Secondly, this plan saves the government money that is currently being spent on rent. The government can even pay the property taxes with the money they save from not paying landlords through the HUD program. This is an all inclusive approach to provide renewal in urban and rural regions.

This process can begin at the local level. People who are not current owners of any property should be given priority in the bidding process for homes repossessed due to unpaid taxes. By allowing non-property owners to bid on these properties, more first-time home-owners will benefit from this process. In addition, this will limit land-rich land-lords from using this system strictly for profit.

Ideally, the first-time home-owning winning bidders should not have to pay property taxes for the first three years, so that this money can go towards repairs and upgrades to the property. If someone has their property repossessed due to non-payment of taxes, they can always bid on another piece of property. However, they should be limited in the number of opportunities they have in this system.

There is enough property in this country for everyone to be able to own a home. If we work together, we can make this dream a reality.