Florida state officials received welcome news last week when Gov. Charlie Crist announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had approved the release of $91 million in federal aid for Florida’s cities and counties hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis, reports the Orlando Business Journal (“HUD Releases $91 M in Foreclosure Aid,” Feb. 5, 2009).

“The foreclosure crisis has affected communities statewide from Key West to Pensacola, and I am thankful the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is authorizing the release of the funds,” Crist said. “This money, along with the federal funds being distributed directly to additional communities, will provide help across the entire state.”

Last year, the U.S. Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 awarded the state $541 million to be used to for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed properties across the state. Of that award, $450 million has already been allocated directly to the 48 local governments that had the highest number of foreclosures, subprime mortgages, and mortgage delinquencies or defaults.

The recently released $91 million from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act will be distributed through Florida’s Department of Community Affairs to an additional 26 cities and counties, which have four years to spend the money in a way that addresses these municipalities’ rising foreclosures and declining property values.

“Our team has been working diligently on developing the state’s distribution plan and ensuring those communities in the most desperate need receive help,” said Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham. “We look forward to working with local governments statewide in putting these funds to work.”

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