Hemet city officials hope to revitalize the troubled Mobley Lane neighborhood by buying up, rehabilitating and managing a group of foreclosed four-plexes.
The Hemet Housing Authority has approved a plan to begin purchasing the apartment units in a neighborhood with a history of crime and financial troubles.
Hemet is working with the nonprofit Riverside Housing Development Corp. to buy three four-plexes, said Steve Harding, assistant executive director for the Housing Authority. One is in escrow, and negotiations are under way for two others, he said.
Eventually, the city hopes to buy most or all of the 16 four-plexes that line Mobley Lane and are in various stages of foreclosure.
The process could take several years or as long as a decade, depending on how aggressive the city wants to be, Harding said.
"We're trying to get in there and purchase them at their lowest (price) level and while they're mostly unoccupied," Harding said.
Four-plexes that once sold for $375,000 or more now are going for $180,000 to $200,000. Hemet purchased its first unit for $183,000.
In recent months, residents have been given notices to vacate four-plexes as they went into foreclosure and banks took ownership.
Hemet Housing Manager Mark Trabing said residents who were evicted have found apartments elsewhere.
On Monday, resident Crystal Walker-Chatham said the living conditions have steadily deteriorated in recent weeks, as many apartments have been broken into and ransacked.
"Only 11 of us remain ... and a severe problem with cockroaches has taken place," she said.
Trabing said the city will use federal Neighborhood Stabilization funds to buy the foreclosed properties.
Hemet may have to use its eminent domain powers, an approach several Hemet City Council members said they would be willing to take.
"If we're making a better community in the long run, that's what matters," Councilman Jim Foreman said.
The ultimate goal is to improve substandard housing, provide decent options for low-income tenants who are willing to stay, and create a cleaner, safer environment, city officials said.
The city also hopes to cut down on the number of calls to police, Harding said.
Bruce Kulpa, executive director for Riverside Housing Development Corp., said his organization has acquired, fixed up and managed more than 175 multifamily units in the past two years. One rehabilitated Valle Vista neighborhood that had 139 police calls in six months saw that number drop to 29 calls, Kulpa said.
Reach Michael Perrault at 951-763-3464 or mperrault@PE.com
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Tenants Together is making this article available on our website in an effort to advance the understanding of tenant rights issues in California. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.