HOUSING : RTC to Make 60 Units of Housing Available to Victims of Rioting

The federal agency that is cleaning up the debris in the thrift industry will make up to 60 housing units, mostly apartments, available as emergency shelters to families displaced during the April disturbances in Los Angeles.

The Resolution Trust Corp. is leasing 49 units, including five single-family houses and a duplex, and expects to offer an additional 11 units soon to the housing authorities in Los Angeles and Long Beach, said A.J. Felton, vice president of the RTC’s California office in Newport Beach.

The local RTC office is also negotiating with the housing authorities to sell the units at reduced prices or donate them to the local housing agencies. The value of all 60 properties was estimated at $10 million by the agency.

The RTC is charged with recovering as much money as possible from the sale of failed thrifts’ assets. But if the cost of maintaining a property exceeds its value or wipes out any possible profit in a sale, the agency can donate the property under its affordable housing program.

The RTC’s offer will house about 60% of the 100 families left homeless by last month’s disturbances, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD has also estimated that the disturbances left 371 housing units seriously damaged or destroyed.

Before anyone can move in, however, the housing authorities must visit the properties to make sure they are habitable.

At a meeting in Newport Beach last week of the regional RTC oversight board, a Los Angeles economist said that residential resales dropped 20% in value after the disturbances and that commercial and office values in the affected areas fell 30% to 40%.