HUD Widens Big-City Home-Buying Incentives for Police

A federal program that enables police officers to buy homes in economically distressed neighborhoods at reduced prices is being expanded to encourage more officers to use it in Los Angeles and other major cities, officials said Thursday.

The national program is similar to financial incentives approved last week by the Los Angeles Police Commission to encourage officers to buy homes within the city. Studies have shown that as many as 83% of Los Angeles Police Department officers live outside Los Angeles, some as distant as 50 miles.

Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to announce expansion of the federal program today at the White House, joined by Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and officials of the Mortgage Bankers Assn. of America.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development administers the Officer Next Door program, in which it sells homes that it has acquired through foreclosure on defaulted mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Officers can buy these homes at 50% off the price listed by the FHA on condition that they sign a contract to live in the home at least three years.

In addition, financial institutions belonging to the Mortgage Bankers Assn. provide the officers with a choice of mortgage discounts that include a half-point reduction in closing costs or a one-eighth point reduction on interest rates over the life of the mortgage.

So far, an estimated 2,000 law enforcement officers across the nation have taken advantage of the program. The expansion will make it available to 1,000 more.

In conjunction with local officials, HUD has designated 500 “revitalization areas” as eligible for participation in the Officer Next Door program. Officials said that, while these neighborhoods typically contain many vacant properties and often have high crime rates, they are considered good candidates for economic development.

Gore, in remarks prepared for delivery at today’s ceremony, said he believes that “when police officers move into an area, criminals want to move out and families want to move in.”

His statement added: “The presence of officers in an area can plant the seeds of revitalization that can transform struggling communities into thriving neighborhoods, attracting new businesses and jobs as well as new residents.”

The police housing program was launched by President Clinton as a one-year initiative in June 1997.

According to Gore’s office, the anticipated success of the expanded program will lead to proposed regulations to make the incentives permanent.

Information about the incentives is available through groups that include the National Fraternal Order of Police, the National Assn. of Police Organizations and the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police.

Dean Hansell, a member of the Los Angeles Police Commission who has spearheaded local incentives, said that officers who live in the city have less commuting stress, are better able to respond to emergencies and soon become “vested stakeholders” in improving the quality of city life.