North Dakota will receive $19.6 million in federal funding to help the state recover from the effects of high foreclosure rates and declining home values of the recent housing market crisis.
The money comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Neighborhood Stabilization Program. It will be distributed by the state Department of Commerce's Division of Community Services.
State and local governments can use the money to buy land and property; demolish or rehabilitate properties; and offer down-payment and closing cost aid to low- and moderate-income homebuyers, HUD announced Thursday.
Fargo Senior Planner Dan Mahli said the city requested $4.8 million in the program. He said the city plans to use any funds it receives to build housing for seniors and homeless veterans, and work with Habitat for Humanity and a local high school to build affordable housing.
Nationally, the program is providing $4 billion to help state and local governments, HUD announced.
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North Dakota's application for the program cited Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck as the areas with the greatest needs, with 41 percent of all foreclosed homes and 42.1 percent of the states 5,559 sub-prime mortgages.
