Suffolk Holds Drawing for Foreclosed Homes

It was a foreclosure fest last night as Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and others dipped into a barrel of 68 names to determine the order in which house hunters could buy rehabbed foreclosures at affordable prices.

“Yay!” screamed Minnie Mitchell, 45, of East Morichesm who was picked fifth. The assistant head teller at a bank and a single mom with two boys threw up her hands when hearing her name.

“Do you know how bad I want to own a home?” said Mitchell, one of 30 people who attended the lottery at the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppauge. “I am the happiest person in the world.”

It's the first housing lottery drawing on Long Island under the federally funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which funneled about $30 million to Long Island municipalities to buy, rehab and sell empty houses.

Suffolk and Nassau, which will hold its lottery Monday, have been working with nonprofits to identify eligible buyers who will have to pay up to $225,000 for houses that could be worth far more. Those payments would be dumped back into buying more foreclosures.

"We really want you to get these homes and put your heart and soul into it because you're helping the neighborhood. . . . You're helping the county," Levy told the group.

The Long Island Housing Partnership will determine which house hunters meet income, credit and other eligibility rules. Money not allocated for a house in the next three years will return to federal coffers.

Suffolk is in contract on three properties but expects to rehab at least 70 homes in four years in target areas such as Mastic, Bay Shore, North Amityville and other places hit hard by the foreclosure crisis. Nassau expects to rehab 100 homes.

Joe Sanseverino, Suffolk's director of community development, said both counties and the Partnership have prepared a proposal for $20 million in competitive grants in the second round of federal funds. In target areas, properties seized by the county for nonpayment of taxes would be repaired with federal funds and sold as affordable homes, he said. "While we have not as severe problems as some of the other areas, like Nevada and California, we think we can make a bigger impact in communities with our funding," Sanseverino said.

Mitchell had been house hunting for a year but couldn't find an affordable home. A real estate agent told her about the program.

"Finally," she said. "I got a break."

You can learn more about the program and if you may qualify at The Long Island Housing Partnership website by clicking here