Mom gets new home in Cook County program to promote ownership

By Igor Studenkov For Chronicle Media

Jenaia Hart (left) reacts after being named the winner in the Cook County Land Bank Authority’s Holiday Home Giveaway. (Photo courtesy of the Cook County Land Bank Authority

Four days before Christmas, lifelong Chicagoan and new mother Jenaia Hart got the kind of gift many people dream about — a new house.

For the past two years, Cook County Land Bank Authority has been doing holiday home giveaways to Chicago area residents who would not be able to afford to buy homes on their own. The giveaway was designed to draw attention to CCLBA’s Homebuyer Direct Program, which allows less well-off residents to buy homes at below-market prices. The idea behind the program and the giveaway is to expand home ownership, allowing more people to build equity, helping strengthen neighborhoods and reducing the number of vacant homes.

While it is too early to say how the giveaway will work out for Hart and her family, the previous year’s winner is happy with her home. And for now, at least, the Land Bank intends to keep doing the giveaway for years to come.

As previously reported by the Chronicle, CCLBA was formed in 2013 by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to address an issue that has been plaguing Chicago and many of its suburbs. Thousands of residential, commercial and industrial buildings and land parcels sit abandoned throughout Chicago area. And they continue to sit abandoned because issues such as foreclosures and tax liens discourage their owners from doing anything with them.

The land bank either buys those properties or gets the owners to either donate them or forfeit them. It then works to resolve tax liens and other issues, with the idea of eventually selling it back to private developers. Since it isn’t trying to make the most money, it can afford to sell the properties at below-market rates.

In many cases, CCLBA sells properties to community-based developers who would be interested in rehabbing the properties and selling them for affordable prices. The Homebuyer Direct Program, on the other hand, does what the name suggests — sell homes directly to the residents. CCLBA Executive Director Robb Rose explained that, in addition to selling the properties, his organization teaches new homeowners the ins and outs of home ownership.

He emphasized that CCLBA sees home ownership as a great way to stabilize communities and build wealth in communities that are generally less well off. The tricky part is getting people on board — which is where the giveaway lottery came in.

“We think it’s a very successful program and a way to stabilize neighborhoods, so we want to encourage people to look at this,” Rose said.

CCLBA did the first giveaway in 2017. Whether they live in Chicago or the suburbs, any person who can prove that they wouldn’t be able to afford a home is eligible to enter the drawing. Last year, they gave away a house in Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood.

The two-story single-family home is located on Maywood Drive, between 11th and 10th avenues. It’s a two-story building with a driveway and a large garage. (Photo courtesy of the Cook County Land Bank Authority)

Rose said that last year’s winner, Elaine Lee, lost her house to a foreclosure after her husband passed away. She was living with her daughter when she applied for the giveaway. Rose said that, as of the end of November, she was doing well.

“I spoke to Ms. Lee last week,” he said. “She’s still very much enjoying the house and feels very grateful that she was the winner. “

Rose added that,” in a bit of a role-reversal,” Lee was able to let her daughter live with her.

This year, they gave away a house in west suburban Maywood, because, Rose said, they wanted to make sure they “represent the whole of Cook County.”

Rose explained that they chose which home to give away based on several factors. First, there is the matter of what buildings they happened to own at the time. And out of the ones that were available, they wanted something that would be suitable for a wide range of households.

“We wanted something that would be flexible enough that we could accommodate a wide variety of winners — a single person, or a new family.” Rose said. “We didn’t want something to be too big or too small.”

And he said that, while they were going to rehab the building, they wanted it to be “cost-effective.” After narrowing it down to two to three sites, the rehab costs was what tilted their decision in favor of the Maywood house.

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The two-story single-family home is located on Maywood Drive, between 11th and 10th avenues. It’s a two-story building with a driveway and a large garage. It is also within walking distance from a bike/walking trail and several Pace bus routes.

This year’s winner was announced on Dec. 21. According to a CCLBA press release, Hart was nine months pregnant with her first child, and she was looking for “low income housing options to support her growing family.” Her parents will be moving into the new home as well.

In a statement during the Dec. 21 press conference, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle

said that it was a great day not just for Hart and her family, but for Maywood as a whole.

“Today we made Ms. Hart’s dream of owning a home a reality,” she said. “That means her family will have a place to call their own — a place to build roots. Cook County residents should know that home ownership is within reach. The Cook County Land Bank Authority’s Homebuyer Direct Program helps residents build wealth through homeownership while also bettering our communities.”

Rose told the Chronicle that winners have 90 days to move in. The Land Bank will hold a title for five years. Hart will need to pay $800 a month to cover taxes and insurance.

“And after a 5-year period, we forgive that mortgage, and [Hart] will own [the house] free and clear,” Rose said.

He explained that the five-year period was done to ensure that winners wouldn’t be able to take out debt against the mortgage. As Rose put it, while the Land Bank wanted the winners to have the house “and enjoy it,” they wanted to make sure they’d be able to keep it in the long run.

Rose said that the Land Bank wants to keep the giveaways going — if nothing else, because they believe that the Homebuyer Direct Program is an important program to promote.

“When we talk about being able to strengthen neighborhoods, [we believe] that we have to be able to create sustainable and affordable home ownership opportunities,” he said. “It’s a [part] of being able to sustain the region. We think it will be [the push] in the direction to save a lot of the region.”For more information about Homebuyers Direct Program, visit http://www.cookcountylandbank.org/

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