Mayor Quan Announces Oakland's Plan To Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

OAKLAND (KCBS)— The city of Oakland announced on Tuesday that it wants to help the estimated 3,500 homeowners who currently face foreclosure by buying up properties and selling them back to the homeowners at current rates.

The announcement was made at a morning news conference where Mayor Jean Quan began by delivering a startling statistic.

"Since 2007, when the crisis started, nearly 10,000 people have lost their homes in our city and today about 3,000 homes are still at risk," she said.

As a result, city leaders and representatives from a dozen or more community organizations launched a coordinated effort to help homeowners and tenants facing foreclosure by helping them receive market-rate financing and education.

KCBS' Jeffrey Schaub Reports:

The city plans on buying up the homes facing foreclosure and selling them back to the original homeowners through a $1.2 million fund they are creating.

Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan spoke about the waves of abandoned homes in her East Bay city.

"Let's be clear, not only did the foreclosures cause devastating harm to the families who lose their homes, they also have been causing significant suffering throughout entire neighborhoods," Kaplan said.

Kaplan noted that the foreclosures also does damage to the city's tax base.

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