SitemapU.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Cleveland, D-Ohio, invited Durkin and other local housing experts and advocates to a roundtable discussion on the obstacles to affordable housing Monday at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County along Wick Avenue.
“We have an affordable housing crisis in Ohio and all over the country,” Brown said in a release. “We need a housing system that works for everyone, whether they’re renting or want to buy a home, no matter who they are, no matter what kind of work they do, or where they live.
“That’s why I’m asking Ohioans to share their stories with me as we work to turn those conversations into policy ideas that help Ohio workers and Ohio families.”
Many of the predatory landowners known to city and county officials don’t operate in the state — or even in the country.
Durkin has seen landowners from Portugal, Belize, Singapore and elsewhere. He said one Australian company bought 10 homes along Ford Avenue within a six-month span — all for about $60,000.
Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, said the companies’ common practice is to scoop up low-value properties — for maybe a few thousand dollars — then leave repairs up to the residents who’ve signed land contracts, often for many times that amount.
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