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The federal government announced on Friday that it is giving communities attempting to redevelop abandoned and foreclosed properties a break. Local city and county officials have had trouble spending 4 billion dollars in grants awarded to them because of confusing federal rules that allow private investors to outbid local governments and snap up residential properties. Now, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is allowing city and county, and state governments to purchase properties that are over 60 days delinquent on their mortgages, or at least 90 days delinquent on tax payments. The Department also broadened the definition of an abandoned property to include properties on which no mortgage or tax payments have been made for at least 90 days, or inhabitable properties that have not been renovated by their owners. Department officials hope that these changes, effective immediately, will allow more than 300 communities across the country to take back their neighborhoods. Home foreclosure rates have continued to grow – six percent since last year – but the growth has slowed. I recently spoke with Max Rameau of the organization Take Back the Land which was profiled in Michael Moore’s film, Capitalism: A Love Story. Take Back the Land promotes the use of public land for the public good and the human right to a home, and has worked in cities from Miami to Portland, as well as in South Africa.

GUEST: Max Rameau, member of Florida-based organization, Take Back the Land and author of
Take Back The Land: Land, Gentrification And The Umoja Village Shantytown

Find out more at www.takebacktheland.org.