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<br />Community Development Director Miller stated that there are no elected HRA boards that she is <br />aware of. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson stated that the Council has to approve the HRA levy, so it <br />would still have Council approval and not just be under HRA control. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that staff will check out whether it can be an elected position. <br /> <br />Case #1: <br /> <br />Discussion Regarding Challenges and Opportunities Related To the Current <br />Foreclosure Conditions <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that an acquaintance of his, who is a realtor, is present and may be <br />able to give some insight to the Council on the foreclosure issue. <br /> <br />Community Development Director. Miller stated that, if the decision is made to proceed to <br />develop a local program to give a purchaser additional incentive to buy foreclosed homes, the <br />next step would be to determine program guidelines. She noted that some of the questions that <br />would need to be considered are: Who is eligible? What properties are eligible?; Use of Funds?; <br />Type of loan?; Loan amounts?; and Underwriting? She stated that there are no other <br />communities that specifically target foreclosed homes and reviewed some of the other programs <br />that communities in the metro area have. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that he would like to add a letter (i.) under the question "What <br />problems related to the foreclosure crisis is the City looking to solve?" He stated that he thinks <br />that it should also include "Keeping single ownership versus corporate rental properties". <br /> <br />Community Development Director Miller stated that there are 421 rental properties currently in <br />the City. She stated that in 2000, there was just over 1 % in rental housing and now the number is <br />. about 5%. She stated that most communities of our size have about 20-25% rental property. She <br />stated that the growth of rental properties has been pretty steady and isn't a sudden increase. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that he would like to see that information. <br /> <br />Chair Olson stated that she thinks that investors who are buying houses to rehab and resell will <br />be a big part of the solution to the problem. She stated that everybody is throwing money at <br />homeowners and helping people to get into homes. She stated that the mortgage market for <br />investors has gotten terribly squeezed. She stated that she would like that group to be a part of <br />whatever the City does. <br /> <br />Community Development Director Miller stated that another number that Councilmember Elvig <br />had asked about during an earlier meeting was the amount of foreclosures that were builder <br />owned. She stated that currently there are 43 single family homes, since 2003, that were started <br />by a builder that have not been "finaled" and 48 townhomes that have not been "finaled". <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig asked what kind of incentives the City can provide for this. <br /> <br />Housing and Redevelopment Authority / October 21, 2008 <br />Page 3 of5 <br />