Council adopts pilot to rehabilitate foreclosed housing and seeks nonprofit partnerships

The Common Council on July 8 adopted a resolution promoting public–private partnerships to rehabilitate city-owned foreclosed properties and asked that the remainder be sent to the Finance Committee for follow-up. The item was presented as a pilot program to rehabilitate select city-owned homes rather than sell them wholesale to speculators.

Sponsors described concerns about auction winners who buy multiple in-rem properties and then rent them without adequate rehabilitation. The sponsoring councilmember cited partnerships with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity as examples of nonprofit work the city could leverage to rehabilitate homes and then sell them to community residents for affordable ownership.

Speakers urged changes to the in-rem auction process to prioritize owner-occupant buyers or set aside inventory for nonprofit rehabilitation and community purchasers. Several councilmembers said current law directs sale proceeds to the city rather than automatically compensating prior homeowners, and one speaker said that statutory structure must be fixed before the council will support certain sales approaches.

The resolution was adopted on the floor; the transcript records the motion to adopt and subsequent seconding and states the item will be sent to finance for implementation planning. The council did not set a specific funding package in the July 8 discussion; it described the policy as a pilot that would require coordination with the administration and nonprofit partners before implementation.