Strengthening communities through veteran homeownership in Cuyahoga County

Rehab – Cuyahoga County, OH – Credit Cuyahoga County Land Bank – 2014

(Stay tuned for more information on the Homefront Veterans Home Ownership Program and much more about land banking in our new report, “Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods,” coming out next Tuesday. Subscribe to our email list to receive notice when the report is available.)

This Veterans Day, we’re lifting up an innovative program of the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation (CCLRC), a land bank in Ohio. The program, dubbed the Homefront Veterans Home Ownership Program, was launched in late 2013 in order to help veterans purchase rehabbed homes from the land bank, either through outright sales, or through a lease-to-own option. There are already veterans benefiting from the program, bringing new investment and stable homeownership to communities where both are badly needed.

Interested veterans are eligible for discounts of up to twenty percent on their homes, and they can save even more if they rehab the property themselves. They must then reside in the home for at least two years. Thus, veterans are provided with an affordable housing option, and the land bank is able to get responsible, long-term owners into formerly vacant properties. The program has a revolving loan fund created through a partnership with Cuyahoga County Council’s Veteran Services Fund.

In a news article from earlier this year, Gus Frangos, president of CCLRC, said, “We wanted to provide housing that would create true wealth so within four or five years, this home would be paid off and the veteran would have equity and it would be affordable during those five years that he’s paying it off.”

You can find out more about CCLRC and its innovative programs on their website, and in Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods, to be released next week.