Rehabbing Homes in the “4th City”

The “4th City” has taken possession of thousands of vacant, abandoned and foreclosed properties over the past eighteen years. St. Louis is able to convey those properties to buyers through the Land Reutilization Authority. Property conveyances such as these are governed by Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

In order to facilitate processes which convey higher numbers of nonperforming city-owned homes to those who can rehab them, Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Underpinnings for the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 were brought on by The Financial Crisis. The Housing And Economic Recovery Act of 2008 later became the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (“NSP”).

The NSP provides framework cities rely upon to determine the most effective ways to get city-owned homes to buyers who can rehab them. In St. Louis, property conveyances are enacted through the Land Reutilization Authority.

To acquire Land Reutilization Authority properties buyers submit their Offer To Purchase along with pay stubs, their prior year’s tax return, bank statements and their funding source.

The “4th City” has an estimated 9,000 vacant properties. The majority of those 9,000 vacant properties in the “4th City” are residential homes.