How much money is in the fund? And what can it be used for?
Those were questions asked Wednesday morning during the meeting of the Stand Up for Neighborhoods Subcommittee of the City Council Special Ad Hoc Committee on Jacksonville’s Neighborhood Blight.
Elaine Spencer, city Housing and Community Development Division chief, said $1.6 million of the $2.7 million collected since 2010 through the Vacant Property Registry program remains in the fund.
Assistant General Counsel Stephen Durden said since the funds collected are defined as a fee, they may only be used to benefit the entities from which the fees are collected. In this case, that’s the holders of mortgages on Duval County foreclosed residential properties.
A 2010 ordinance requires mortgage holders on foreclosed property to register the property with the city and pay a $150 fee. As of Oct. 31, more than 35,000 properties have been registered.
The funds are used to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by helping them make mortgage payments, take part in mortgage modification counseling and to cover some of the city’s costs to mitigate blight connected with such properties, including mowing lawns at vacant homes and demolition.
Council member Bill Gulliford is working with Community Champions, the Melbourne-based firm that has a contract with the city to research foreclosures and collect the fee, to modify the legislation that created the registry.
Community Champions keeps half of the fee for program administration, including researching property and financial records and collecting the fees from mortgage holders. The other half goes to the city.
Tom Darnell, managing partner of Community Champions, did not attend the meeting but said Wednesday afternoon that many of the more than 60 municipalities in five states that have hired his company to maintain vacant property registries have amended their requirements since the programs were instituted.
He said while all of the original programs required a one-time registration, many jurisdictions are amending the rules to require annual registration.
“Mortgages can change hands, so an annual update is a good idea,” Darnell said.
Most also have increased the fee, some to as much as $350, Darnell said, and some of his clients have added to the program fines for failure to register a property.
“I think we’re shorting ourselves,” Gulliford said.
He expects to make recommendations for modifying the ordinance in January.
In addition to increasing the fee, Gulliford said he wants to clarify what the city’s share of the fee can be used for. That might include providing funds to mitigate municipal code violations filed against properties that are not registered as foreclosures.
“Blight would be a good use,” he said. “If you’re improving a neighborhood, you’re pulling up property values.”
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