LANSING, Mich. — The Lansing Housing Commission is trying to sell off hundreds of single-family homes by the end of this year, but some of the people who live in those homes say the sale could leave them out in the cold.
Housing Commission officials say they don't have the money to keep up with maintenance on the 242 scattered site homes, and it would be more cost effective to sell the properties.
“The sale of these houses would move it to an entity that has more money that has more access to capital. Under the public housing entity, we can’t even borrow money to fix stuff,” said Executive Director Douglas Fleming.
The sale still needs to be approved by the federal government.
Last week Housing Commission officials held an informational meeting to update residents on the process.
Many residents who came out expressed frustration, confusion and concerns surrounding the sale.
Resident Jessica Gonzales says she’s still unclear about what’s happening and that’s a problem.
“Mostly we’ve been misinformed for the past two years. They told us that we’d have the option to buy and now we got this letter about this meeting saying that somebody else was going to be buying our homes,” said Gonzales.
Fleming says people who qualify for home ownership will indeed have the opportunity to buy their homes and that there is a plan in place for residents who don't.
So far, only about 10 residents have been approved to buy the house they live in.
“Whether they qualify for the new ownership group or they don’t. Whether they are eligible to move into one of our existing properties or if we can give them an immediate section 8 voucher because of some extenuating circumstances,” said Fleming.
There will be several more meetings as the scattered site sale moves forward.
Fleming expects the sale to be completed by the third quarter of this year.
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