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<br />Chairperson Olson stated that she feels this just "drags out the pain" because the homes will <br />continue to lose value and will still devalue the neighbor's homes. <br /> <br />Commissioner Jeffrey stated that he feels the pain will be slow no matter how this is looked at. <br />He stated that he feels the number of police calls to foreclosed homes has to be huge. He gave <br />an example of a home in his neighborhood in foreclosure where the house was broken into and <br />many things were taken, such as the air conditioning unit and vanities. He stated that there was <br />also damage like broken windows and walls. He stated that he feels that the enforcement. costs <br />for vandalism calls have to be really high. He stated that he would like to see some data on the <br />number of calls to foreclosed homes the police department is dealing with. <br /> <br />BRA Executive Director Frolik stated that this is where she feels the task force would come in, <br />so these homes would be identified. <br /> <br />Chairperson Olson stated 'that at the meeting last week with Ms. Snyder, she stated that many <br />cities are creating a vacant housing fee. She stated that St. Paul recently changed their vacant <br />house fee from. $250 to $1,000 because it has become such a problem. She stated that <br />Minneapolis currently has a $500 fee. She stated that this fee helps to defray soine of the costs <br />that Commissioner Jeffrey was discussing. <br /> <br />Commissioner Elvig stated that he agrees. somewhat with Commissioner Look and certainly <br />doesn't want to create an incentive for people to fail. He stated that he has an excellent credit <br />rating, but during a recent real estate transaction, he was informed that Anoka County has been <br />designated as having a diminishing value, so, overnight, he was required to come up with an <br />additional 5% down payment for closing. He stated that he doesn't think most people would <br />have been able to come up with that money, so he would like to find a way to help people in that <br />situation. <br /> <br />Commissioner Look asked how the City can solve a problem of prices being jacked up when <br />people get to the closing. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec arrived at the meeting. <br /> <br />Commissioner Elvig stated that he thinks it can be managed with a good program. <br /> <br />Commissioner Dehen asked if the foreclosure rate was starting to level off or was continuing to <br />get worse. <br /> <br />HRA Executive Director Frolik stated that it is getting worse. <br /> <br />Associate Planner DaInes stated that our data is somewhat skewed because there were 55 <br />foreclosures last month in one development alone that had the same bank and the same owner. <br /> <br />Chairperson Olson stated that there was also a chart included in the packet on the number of <br />foreclosures by builder that she would like to discuss. <br /> <br />Housing and Redevelopment Authority / July 22, 2008 <br />Page 4 of8 <br />