BALTIMORE — The uproar in Baltimore’s City Council Chambers earlier this week slimmed the chances that the dollar house bill proposed by City Council President Nick Mosby ever passes.
But the conversation continues surrounding what options the city has going forward.
While some have completely walked away from the idea of dollar houses, others still believe in the bill’s intent to make purchasing a home more affordable.
MORE: Doubling down on dollar homes in Baltimore
But the question remains how the city goes about getting these homes filled and getting the blight eliminated.
The revamped dollar house bill proposed by Council President Nick Mosby used decades ago-- for Councilman Robert stokes could produce positive results.
“It gives those persons who are renting the opportunity to become homeowners here in the city,” Baltimore City Councilman Robert Stokes said.
Stokes is still in favor of offering homes for a dollar for city residents.
For many, the hurdles to homeownership in Baltimore are too high to clear, and offering a more guaranteed avenue is a priority for Stokes.
“If people can pay $1200 or more for rent that means they can get a mortgage and be homeowners,” Stokes said.
But questions still loom on the other side regarding it’s potential scale and impact.
“The dollar house program the way that its written at the moment will only work on 300 properties. Not the 15,000 that we need. So I’m thinking about scale and impact,” Baltimore city Councilwoman Odette Ramos said.
The ultimate priority of the city is to get rid of vacant properties through rehab or demolition and ensure those who need housing have it.
“We disagree on how to get there and what we’re going to do first. I believe at some point we can meld all of this together but my since of urgency is lets take our strategies to scale and get the most done that we can now. Get these houses into people’s hands that will do something with them,” Ramos said.
Ramos’ proposed bill creates a separate court docket set aside for housing to expedite the process of foreclosing on unkept homes through penalizing owners financially.
“First thing that has to happen is the city has to get the properties,” Ramos said.
Stokes said he’d like to see those properties be transformed into home ownership; but, those who desire that don’t necessarily have the credit to secure a loan…
“If we keep using the credit score its not going to work. That’s why I’m willing to sit down with the banks and see if they’re willing to come up with some new mortgage products and not use just their credit scores but use how they pay their bills on time,” said Stokes.
While the fate of dollar house deal is still slim but uncertain the alternative strategy isn't.
“We’re not deadlocked on the foreclosure strategy because that’s going to move forward because that’s already started to move forward. I hear the since of urgency and I think that’s important but what we’re doing is building the infrastructure to make this happen,” Ramos said.
