Final Evaluation of the Dover Estates Property Disposition Demonstration

The Dover Estates demonstration is one of several innovative property disposition efforts in progress around the country. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has experienced growing inventories of vacant and boarded-up properties in many urban and suburban areas. usually acquired through default on federally insured mortgages. These properties often attract vandals and other criminal elements. The presence of a large number of empty vandalized houses damages a neighborhood's attractiveness and lowers the value of sound housing in the area. As a result. neither homeowners nor HUD can dispose of their properties without financial loss. and the cycle of abandonment and blight is intensified.