Money for Stabilization of Foreclosures.
WESLEY CHAPEL - Like thousands of other Pasco County homes, the house at 31431 Glendalough Way sold to an investor in 2006 and fell into foreclosure a few years later.
County records show Paul Gangadyal of New Jersey paid Lennar Corp. more than $305,000 for his piece of the Bridgewater community off Curley Road. Last November, Pasco County bought the house from Countrywide Home Loans for $144,500 - less than half the original price.
By that time, the house, like many properties in investor-dominated Bridgewater, had fallen into disrepair.
The purchase was part of a government-funded effort to put new owners in foreclosed homes. Using $19.3 million in federal funds, Pasco officials are buying, rehabbing and reselling abandoned and bank-owned houses with the aim of keeping their neighborhoods from sliding into further distress.
The first round of Neighborhood Stabilization money began flowing last year. The bulk of that money went toward hard-hit communities in west Pasco. The county has spent that on nearly 230 houses so far. About 10 percent of them are back in private hands.
Even as the first stabilization effort continues, a second wave of federal help - $30 million - is due this month. That money will go largely to restore foreclosed homes in Land O' Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Dade City and Zephyrhills. Those areas figured prominently in the mid-2000s housing boom and the subsequent collapse.
Pasco is among a small number of communities nationwide to qualify for a second round of stabilization funding.
George Romagnoli, whose office controls the county's stabilization funds, says the county will look at communities along U.S. 41, State Road 54 and Curley Road for houses in need of help.
Romagnoli, Pasco's community development chief, said the county has set $120,000 as the upper limit for buying houses to turn around.
"If you go above that, you can run into affordability issues," he said.
Romagnoli's office has already begun rehabbing homes in some of those east Pasco communities. Since last summer, the county has spent $720,000 buying and rehabbing six houses in Bridgewater, one of the communities hardest hit by the housing collapse.
Bridgewater began construction in 2004 with the promise of high-end homes and few investors. By the time Lennar finished developing Bridgewater in 2007, investors owned most of the houses, and the rot had already set in.
As investors struggled to keep up with inflated mortgages, their houses frequently stood empty. Graffiti, gang activity and petty crime grew in the place of the smiling families Lennar had predicted.
In recent years, Bridgewater residents have tried to reverse their community's slide by strictly enforcing deed restrictions and by starting a neighborhood watch program.
Mark Spector, president of Bridgewater's homeowners association, welcomed any help the county can offer toward improving the community.
"From an overall program standpoint, we would love to stabilize our neighborhood," Spector said. "We've started to see a lot of forward progress on that."
But he questioned how much the federal stabilization program has contributed to that so far.
All of the houses bought with stabilization money remain unoccupied and on the market. Some have untended lawns. At least one has its mailbox lying on the ground.
Spector says Workforce Ventures Inc. and Keystone Challenge Fund - the two nonprofit organizations that hold title to the houses in Bridgewater - are doing little better than the banks at maintaining their properties.
"There's no indication anything has improved," he said.
Harold Sample, head of Dade City-based Workforce Ventures, disagreed. Sample said his properties are mowed regularly and that their unpaid dues have been brought current.
"It's in our interest to keep these houses in good condition," Sample said.
Of Workforce's four Bridgewater houses, two - including 31431 Glendalough Way - are now under contract and likely to close this month, he said.
Keystone chief Jeff Bagwell said his Lakeland-based group is keeping up with homeowner's fees at its properties in Pasco and Polk counties. He was unaware of unkempt lawns and a damaged mailbox at Keystone's two Bridgewater houses, however, and promised to make amends.
"This is something that may have slipped through the cracks," Bagwell said.
County records show Paul Gangadyal of New Jersey paid Lennar Corp. more than $305,000 for his piece of the Bridgewater community off Curley Road. Last November, Pasco County bought the house from Countrywide Home Loans for $144,500 - less than half the original price.
By that time, the house, like many properties in investor-dominated Bridgewater, had fallen into disrepair.
The purchase was part of a government-funded effort to put new owners in foreclosed homes. Using $19.3 million in federal funds, Pasco officials are buying, rehabbing and reselling abandoned and bank-owned houses with the aim of keeping their neighborhoods from sliding into further distress.
The first round of Neighborhood Stabilization money began flowing last year. The bulk of that money went toward hard-hit communities in west Pasco. The county has spent that on nearly 230 houses so far. About 10 percent of them are back in private hands.
Even as the first stabilization effort continues, a second wave of federal help - $30 million - is due this month. That money will go largely to restore foreclosed homes in Land O' Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Dade City and Zephyrhills. Those areas figured prominently in the mid-2000s housing boom and the subsequent collapse.
Pasco is among a small number of communities nationwide to qualify for a second round of stabilization funding.
George Romagnoli, whose office controls the county's stabilization funds, says the county will look at communities along U.S. 41, State Road 54 and Curley Road for houses in need of help.
Romagnoli, Pasco's community development chief, said the county has set $120,000 as the upper limit for buying houses to turn around.
"If you go above that, you can run into affordability issues," he said.
Romagnoli's office has already begun rehabbing homes in some of those east Pasco communities. Since last summer, the county has spent $720,000 buying and rehabbing six houses in Bridgewater, one of the communities hardest hit by the housing collapse.
Bridgewater began construction in 2004 with the promise of high-end homes and few investors. By the time Lennar finished developing Bridgewater in 2007, investors owned most of the houses, and the rot had already set in.
As investors struggled to keep up with inflated mortgages, their houses frequently stood empty. Graffiti, gang activity and petty crime grew in the place of the smiling families Lennar had predicted.
In recent years, Bridgewater residents have tried to reverse their community's slide by strictly enforcing deed restrictions and by starting a neighborhood watch program.
Mark Spector, president of Bridgewater's homeowners association, welcomed any help the county can offer toward improving the community.
"From an overall program standpoint, we would love to stabilize our neighborhood," Spector said. "We've started to see a lot of forward progress on that."
But he questioned how much the federal stabilization program has contributed to that so far.
All of the houses bought with stabilization money remain unoccupied and on the market. Some have untended lawns. At least one has its mailbox lying on the ground.
Spector says Workforce Ventures Inc. and Keystone Challenge Fund - the two nonprofit organizations that hold title to the houses in Bridgewater - are doing little better than the banks at maintaining their properties.
"There's no indication anything has improved," he said.
Harold Sample, head of Dade City-based Workforce Ventures, disagreed. Sample said his properties are mowed regularly and that their unpaid dues have been brought current.
"It's in our interest to keep these houses in good condition," Sample said.
Of Workforce's four Bridgewater houses, two - including 31431 Glendalough Way - are now under contract and likely to close this month, he said.
Keystone chief Jeff Bagwell said his Lakeland-based group is keeping up with homeowner's fees at its properties in Pasco and Polk counties. He was unaware of unkempt lawns and a damaged mailbox at Keystone's two Bridgewater houses, however, and promised to make amends.
"This is something that may have slipped through the cracks," Bagwell said.
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