Newburgh Land Bank Initiates Rent-to-Own Program

13012252335_176f09eb5f

The Newburgh Community Land Bank just announced on their blog a new initiative they are starting with the City. It is a rent-to-own program aimed at helping tenants who pay their rent, yet the City has taken over their residences because their landlords haven’t paid property taxes. The Land Bank explains the method as follows:

The idea is that the Land Bank will work with tenants, set aside a portion of the rent, assist with the upkeep of the home, and enroll the owner in home ownership counseling and savings assistance to enable them to purchase the properties they have responsibly rented for various periods of time.  We are optimistic that this partnership will lead to quite a few Newburgh residents becoming homeowners. We expect that the details will be worked out in the next month and the first batch of tenants will enroll in the program during the Spring.

For tenants that are truly hard working and are responsible to pay their rent on time, this program will help them keep the homes that they have been maintaining. It will be interesting to see how this program spans out in the long run.

Photo by NR flickr pool user Jillian Elder, Victory Designs.

9 Comment

  • Another lame-brained scheme to scam renters into longterm financial binds. Home ownership is not a panacea. It is a huge commitment that comes with unintended consequences- like unpredictable tax hikes and inconsistencies in codes enforcement- that the Land Bank is still dellusionally, deceptively ignoring.

  • “…assist with the up keep”, now we know where that grant money will go to. As I posted previously; the City, and now the Land Bank, are going to do for people what millions of responsible people have done for centuries… ‘er, save their money. Why not “enroll” them into a healthcare program and a retirement plan. Wait, that’s already been done. ‘Agree with Michael G, “Welcome to debt serfdom… just sign here. Your dependence is our control. Thanks for playing along.”

  • I look forward to hearing more about it at the next Land Bank meeting. While in theory it sounds ok, in practice it may reveal that the renters cannot afford the property for the same reasons the landlord could not keep up…high taxes, repairs, expenses, and lack of resources. And landlords are usually more experienced at managing issues like that.

    In addition, pushing a renter toward the idea of homeownership without he or she fully understanding the potential long-term risks that go along…I could go on.

    I also wonder about multifamily properties…they would have to be cooperatized or turned into condos.
    Why not sell large blocks of these to responsible and experienced landlords who can serve as the managers of these homes, with the assistance of the land bank?

    I reserve my judgement until I hear more about this..I had not heard details of a plan like this at the meetings, although I attend regularly…

    • “Why not sell large blocks of these to responsible and experienced landlords who can serve as the managers of these homes, with the assistance of the land bank?”

      I thought you guys wanted primary homeowners only in Newburgh? Nice to see you acknowledge that some of us are “responsible”.

      Newburgh is no longer a viable real estate investment. You are a bankrupt city with high and rising taxes, a poor infrastructure, barely functional city govt, and target the ‘responsible’ landlords as a source of revenue with your ridiculous violations. Meanwhile, the ‘connected’ landlords get a free pass. Furthermore, the tenant population is barely above poverty level with many barely able to pass a credit check, unless of course one accepts Section 8 which I refuse to.

      Furthemore, there is a militant group of you here that oppose ANY large business coming to the city and bringing a better quality of people to live here and broaden the tax base. Heaven forbid you breathe 2 extra particles of smoke or hear an extra truck horn.

      Sorry, there is no profit here for landlords. You’ll have to continue taxing, fining and getting grants to keep the scheme going.

      • You are a bankrupt city with high and rising taxes, a poor infrastructure, barely functional city govt, and target the ‘responsible’ landlords as a source of revenue with your ridiculous violations.”
         
        That’s the problem Peter, you are not a part of Newburgh. Newburgh is a foreign place where you happen to own real estate but do not dare to live. And while you wait for a renaissance to happen from which you would likely benefit, you criticize and have something negative to say every single time you post here as of lately. So what is the point?
         
        Newburgh is no longer a viable real estate investment? This blog isn’t aimed at investors or off-site landlords. It’s aimed a placemakers, people who want to own and (gasp) live in the City of Newburgh. If the city is not viable and barely functional then why am I wasting hundreds of hours of my own time writing this blog? Why are people fixing up homes and starting new businesses as I am doing myself? Many people read this blog although they might not comment. Thanks for discrediting the hard work all of us do. Thanks for turning away people who come to this blog looking for something different than what the local news already reports.
         
        There are other internet forums where you can have conversations of that tone. Your negative attitude would be welcome there.

        • Thank you, Cher. For expressing what so many of us feel.

          • I doubt you represent any majority here. Nothing of substance, the usual idle banter from the cheap seats 🙂

        • I stand by everything I said. I responded to a poster who after making much ado about Newburgh being for primary homeowners in the past now calls for the sale of property to ‘experienced’ and ‘responsible’ landlords. It is duplicitous and reveals their true intention – Newburgh landlords exist for the sole purpose of footing the bill and ought not have a say in anything. Sadly, your comments imply that you share the same belief. Remember that before you advertise another ‘bus tour’ or Realtor ad for investment here.

          None of my comments discredited any work done by citizens. In fact it puts the focus where it belongs – on the City. As I’ve stated before, your well intentioned efforts cannot overcome the bungling ineptitude that has been the history of the city. It is akin to you blowing out a candle while they set fires, such as this soon to be failed social experiment which will reach into the coffers of property owners (landlord and primary homeowners alike). There has to be a change in the City’s fiscal approach.

          My remarks are in the vein of other posters, one who found investing in Newburgh highly speculative by default and the other who would not advise anyone to invest here even after he has invested over 1 million of his own money. We have earned the right to disagree with city policies and state the facts.

          I did not know your blog was for positive comments only. Perhaps a disclaimer is in order. Nevertheless, I wish you well and will no longer post.

          • As a resident, indeed, I “invested by default” much to the dismay of the nay sayers. In fact,, I speculated that Newburgh would be capitalized, by outside influences if not its own, on the collegiate level in spite of my own opinion, as I also commented here, of ‘the system’ of higher education. I think my speculation has some merit, current events seem to support it so I remain optimistic. I have, nor ever had, any preconceived conceptions or ambitions toward the ‘City’ as a real estate venture, or any location for that matter. Growing up in Brooklyn, I was drawn to the gritty undertone of the ‘burgh. To each his own. Hopefully the merits of the ‘City’ that this web site gives attention to and communicates well come to fruition. Baby steps, things tend to daisy chain given enough momentum.