Ohio grant program helps remove 14,000 blighted structures

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has issued a report detailing the success of the Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Grant program. The report shows that the Ohio attorney general’s program, which concluded at the end of last year, helped remove more than 14,000 abandoned and blighted housing units in the state.

“While the number of blighted structures we have removed is an impressive figure, the true success of this program is measured by its visible impact in the towns, on the streets and through the lives it has touched,” says Attorney General DeWine.

DeWine announced the program in February 2012 shortly after the finalization of the National Mortgage Settlement with 49 states and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers. The settlement addressed what the attorney general called “robosigning” abuses, which worsened foreclosure issues during the recession. States also received discretionary funds to help alleviate issues caused by foreclosure.

DeWine says that the attorney general’s office used the discretionary funds to create the Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Grant Program to benefit neighborhoods and communities that were victims of the foreclosure crisis.

The program dedicated $75 million of Ohio’s share of the settlement funds to demolish abandoned and blighted structures across the state. Each of Ohio’s 88 counties received a proportional allocation of the funds based upon the number of foreclosures in each county between 2008 and 2011. To maximize the reach of the program, counties were required to provide matching funds for any grant amount beyond the first $500,000.

The program, which concluded Dec.31, 2014, resulted in the demolition of more than 14,600 blighted housing units at an average cost of $8,148.75 per demolition. The program dedicated more than $119 million toward blighted demolition through both the program grants and matching funds.