Jan 09Foreclosures increasingly becoming rentals

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

With more than one in 10 houses in Chicago vacant, and experts expecting the foreclosure crisis to continue to grow, nonprofits and the city are renting out more of those properties and offering incentives for those willing to buy.

Neighborhood Housing Services, a 35-year-old Chicago non-profit, this year will lend $18 million for single-family home purchases and re-financings of one- to four-unit buildings. The non-profit also is expanding its lending focus to help local residents and/or investors buy vacant foreclosed properties and rent them out, said Ed Jacob, executive director of the Neighborhood Housing Services.  Read more…