• McGregor Fund grants $500,000 over two years
• United Community Housing Coalition will use funds to help 1,000 households in tax foreclosure
• Funds will help enroll homeowners in Wayne County’s Interest Reduction Stipulated Payment Agreement

Detroit-based McGregor Fund has awarded $500,000 to the United Community Housing Coalition to help shield 1,000 Michigan homeowners from losing their homes to tax foreclosure. The program will help 600 low-income families cover the lump sum deposit required to enroll in Wayne County’s Interest Reduction Stipulated Payment Agreement, which reduces the interest rate from 18 percent to 6 percent for tax delinquent homeowners. Additional funds will go toward a skilled trades program to help 400 renters, who occupy homes in foreclosure, purchase and repair their homes. This includes 80 renters benefiting from the Quicken Loans Community Investment Fund’s $300,000 grant to help purchase tax delinquent homes from their owners.

UCHC Executive Director Ted Phillips said there are more than 50,000 properties in Wayne County facing foreclosure next year, with about 85 percent in Detroit and an overwhelming portion being houses.

In addition to the payment plan, UCHC helps the qualified homeowners get the poverty tax exemption, he told Crain’s.

“Homeownership gives families an opportunity to thrive and grow equity in their homes,” Phillips said in a statement. “But when foreclosed homes are purchased by investors at the tax auction, occupants are evicted, investor-owned homes are often neglected and blighted, and neighborhoods quickly destabilize. Keeping families in their homes directly benefits the families, their neighborhoods, and the city.”

The McGregor Fund grant will be distributed over the course of two years. Spokesperson Heidi Alcock said the group wanted to assist UCHC in its efforts to prevent foreclosure and evictions, which it began more than 15 years ago.

Read more