Invest in Dolton Initiative Aims to Decrease Abandoned Homes

The Village of Dolton has been holding public meetings to establish guidelines and address questions for the proposed Invest in Dolton program. This is a program designed to auction vacant homes owned by the Village of Dolton to be rehabilitated for owner occupancy. Photo Credit: Village of Dolton
The Village of Dolton has been holding public meetings to establish guidelines and address questions for the proposed Invest in Dolton program. This is a program designed to auction vacant homes owned by the Village of Dolton to be rehabilitated for owner occupancy. Photo Credit: Village of Dolton

Invest in Dolton Initiative Aims to Decrease Abandoned Homes

By: Katherine Newman

Two meetings have been held over the last several weeks in the Village of Dolton to establish guidelines and address questions for the proposed Invest in Dolton program. This is a program designed to auction vacant homes owned by the Village of Dolton to be rehabilitated for owner occupancy.

“This is an initiative to get the abandoned homes off of the abandoned lists. When we go door to door talking to our fellow residents of Dolton, one of the biggest complaints is, what are you going to do about these abandoned homes,” said Village of Dolton Trustee Duane Muhammad in a

Special Meeting on Nov. 30.

Guidelines for the Invest in Dolton program outline that Village owned vacant homes will be sold by raffle or auction for a cost of acquisition of $5,000 to financially qualified persons. The program will be managed by Janice Johnson, Village Administrator for the Village of Dolton.

The Invest in Dolton program has yet to roll out and the Village of Dolton will continue to hold monthly meetings to address questions from the community, according to Trustee Muhammad in the Planning Committee Meeting on Dec 9.

Proposed guidelines for the Invest in Dolton program currently say that to qualify a candidate must show proof of access to funds at a minimum amount $40,000, by way of line of credit or cash or bank approval loan, to complete the necessary renovations, as read by Village of Dolton Trustee

Robert E. Pierson Jr. in a Dolton Planning Committee Meeting on Dec. 9.

All qualified candidates will be allowed to participate in Invest in Dolton raffle or auction program based on a list of vacant residential properties owned by the Village of Dolton. Raffle or auction winners will receive an as-is conditional purchase offer, and the property cannot be occupied until the renovation has been completed and approved by the Village of Dolton.

All properties will be sold with a deed restriction stating that the property must remainowner occupied for at least five years after the

renovation completion. Failure to comply with the renovation agreement will result in forfeiture of the property, according to Trustee Pierson in a

Dolton Planning Committee Meeting on Dec. 9.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) established the 203(k) Rehab Mortgage Insurance which enables homebuyers and homeowners to finance the purchase of a house and the cost of its rehabilitation through a single mortgage, according to HUD.gov.

The 203(K) renovation loan will allow home buyers to qualify for the Invest in Dolton auction and raffle by giving them a financing option that

will include their renovation costs.

Typically, lenders won’t allow potential homebuyers to finance a property that needs work, they will require that the home be in good standing, according to Robert Mangiaracina, a licensed HomeBridge Mortgage loan originator in Illinois who spoke at the Special Meeting on Nov. 30.

“What the [Rehab Mortgage Insurance] does is allow the home buyer to actually finance the needed repairs into one loan,” said Mangiaracina

at the Special Meeting on Nov. 30. “You could literally do just about anything with these programs. If it’s a gut rehab, if the people who

left the property left it in very poor condition, the 203(k) can rehab just about anything.”

The Village of Dolton and the financial lender will require that the home buyers participating in the Invest in Dolton program use a licensed

and bonded contractor who is registered with the Village of Dolton for the renovations, according to Trustee Pierson in the Planning Committee Meeting on Dec.

For more information and a schedule of upcoming meetings visit vodolton.org.

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