Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Office news<\/i><\/p>\n
COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that he will extend the deadline for counties to use all of their Moving Ohio Forward demolition grant funds from December 31 of this year to May 31, 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased with the progress made by communities to raze abandoned and blighted homes,\u201d said Attorney General Mike DeWine.\u00a0\u201cBy extending the deadline through late spring, we hope that counties will continue to take advantage of the funds available to them to get rid of abandoned homes that have attracted crime and are community eyesores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several counties have asked for the extension due to wet and rainy conditions this spring and finding qualified demolition contractors was also an issue in some areas.<\/p>\n
Of Ohio\u2019s share of the National Mortgage Settlement, $75 million for demolition was directed by the Attorney General to go to all of Ohio\u2019s counties, based on the percentage of foreclosures filed in each county between 2008-2011. The National Mortgage Settlement that the attorneys general reached in 2012 is with the following mortgage servicers: \u00a0Ally, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.<\/p>\n
To date the Attorney General\u2019s Office has reimbursed counties more than $22.3 million and documented a total of more than $36.6 million in the demolition of more than 4,700 units. The average cost per demolition is $7,700.<\/p>\n