Campos Highlights Housing Issues

Prince George's County Council member Will Campos (D-District 2) outlined two proposals which he said can help revive many of the county's neighborhoods hit hard by the recession. Speaking at a , Campos said he wants to create a fund to buy, fix and then sell foreclosed homes and also wants to tighten regulations on single family residential rental properties.

Housing Investment Trust Fund

Campos voiced support for a county housing investment trust fund designed to help homeowners stay in their homes while also giving the county money to purchase, renovate and then sell or lease abandoned or foreclosed houses. 

"The county itself could pick a neighborhood that's suffering, say a block in Green Meadows where there are four foreclosed houses right next to each other…the county would come in, buy those properties, rehabilitate them and then sell them back to residents," said Campos. 

Campos underscored Prince George's County's dismal foreclosure rate, the highest in Maryland. Last year, 22,400 homeowners received foreclosure notices in the mail. In the third quarter of 2011, roughly 27 percent of all foreclosures filed for in Maryland were in Prince George's County. Consequently, over the last four years, the median price of a home in Prince George's County dropped from $330,000 to $162,000.

There is currently a federal program which provides money to localities to purchase foreclosed properties, but Campos said that it wasn't enough. 

"It's great that we get the federal funds, but in my opinion we need to ante up as well," said Campos. "We can't just rely on outside sources."

Campos projected that the investment fund could be started from settlement money headed to Maryland in the wake of a $26 billion settlement with national banks over widespread mortgage fraud.

"We should be getting between $7 and $8 million," said Campos. "That money would go to very, very useful needs here in the county."

Reigning in Rentals

Campos said that the current system for regulating single-family home rental properties is plagued by systemic challenges which can lead to unsafe living conditions for tenants and neighbors. He called the current single-family home rental regulations ineffective.

"In the last few years we've seen a big increase in the number of rental properties, not just in this district, but in Prince George's County as a whole," said Campos. "We want to make sure that there's a high accountability there and that the places are safe."

Currently, if one chooses to rent out a home in Prince George's County, it can be done without getting the structure checked for safety hazards, according to Campos. 

Now, Campos proposes stronger regulations, including interior and exterior safety inspections of all rental properties and bigger fines for violators.