There is a high price to pay in health and safety risks in these neighborhoods - they are not only vulnerable to crime, but people feel unsafe and this has a documented effect of elevating blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart disease.”įair Housing of Marin looked at 84 Fannie-owned foreclosures in Richmond and Oakland, she said. “But the cost to these neighborhoods is much more insidious than just plummeting real estate values. “Fannie Mae's shoddy maintenance of (foreclosed) homes in communities of color renders them unmarketable and an eyesore to their neighbors who are taking care of their homes,” said Caroline Peattie, executive director of Fair Housing of Marin. The pattern, they charge, violates the federal Fair Housing Act.
The housing agencies said they inspected more than 2,100 foreclosed properties in 34 metropolitan areas over the past five years to uncover a widespread pattern of dilapidated homes in black and Hispanic lower- and middle-class neighborhoods. “We remain dedicated to neighborhood stabilization efforts across the nation, including with respect to our maintenance of foreclosed properties.”
“We are confident that our standards ensure that properties in all neighborhoods are treated equally, and we perform rigorous quality control to make sure that is the case,” said spokesman Andrew Wilson in a statement.
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