Press Release  AG Healey Announces Opening of Application Period for $1.25 Million Abandoned Housing Initiative Grant Program

Boston — Attorney General Maura Healey today announced the opening of the application period for a $1.25 million grant program, the Abandoned Housing Initiative Receivership Fund (AHIR), that will help rehabilitate abandoned residential properties, reduce blight, and create safer neighborhoods across the state.

This is the second phase of AHIR, which initially ran from 2013 to 2017 and used $4 million to fund $78 million in property rehabilitation efforts, repairing 88 blighted properties and bringing 181 housing units back to use. The new phase will provide financial assistance to receiverships aimed at revitalizing distressed neighborhoods, promoting home ownership and combatting the negative impacts of residential property blight. Grant funds will be used in partnership with AG Healey’s Abandoned Housing Initiative (AHI) and municipal neighborhood revitalization projects.

“The Abandoned Housing Initiative is a vital tool for municipalities seeking to eliminate blight and put abandoned properties back to active use,” said AG Healey. “We’re pleased to announce this next phase of the program, which will help communities target problem properties that have fallen into disrepair and transform them into affordable homes for Massachusetts families.”

The AG’s Office is requesting applications from organizations from which it will identify one or two fund administrators to coordinate and oversee a regional or statewide program to administer revolving loan and grant funds to receivers. If two fund administrators are selected, each will administer funds in its respective region as determined by the demonstrated capacity and interest of applications. Applicants will be tasked with proposing an effective plan to use the award to leverage additional funding that will rehabilitate abandoned residential properties and create safe, affordable housing.

Entities eligible to apply for the grant include:

• Massachusetts Community Development Corporations (CDCs)
• Massachusetts Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)
• Municipal governments
• Municipal housing and redevelopment authorities
• Quasi-public agencies with significant community development experience, a commitment to stabilizing properties and neighborhoods in their identified region, and the capacity to manage funds 

Interested applicants can visit the AHIR website for additional information about the application process and to download application materials. The deadline to apply for the AHI Fund is July 6 by 5 p.m.

Using funds recovered through the nationwide state-federal settlement over unlawful foreclosures, AHI continues to assist local communities in mitigating the impacts of the foreclosure crisis. The goal of funding through this program is to increase the capacity of receivers to finance the rehabilitation of abandoned properties throughout the state. 

The AG’s AHI program employs the State Sanitary Code to seek out delinquent owners of distressed and abandoned residential properties and to have them bring those homes back into code compliance. If an owner refuses, Assistant Attorneys General within AHI can petition the Court to appoint a receiver to complete the needed repairs, with a lien placed on the home for the value of the work. The receiver is then compensated when the property is sold. For more information, visit the AHI website.

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