Title 'defects' slowing buyouts of flood-damaged properties

Plenty of fingers have been pointed as the process to buy out some 1,300 properties has crawled along. It's now two years and two months after the June 2008 flood.

However, Greg Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, reported to the City Council this week that the Iowa Department of Economic Development, which oversees buyouts in the state and the use of federal and state funds to pay for them, is doing a good job now at clearing Cedar Rapids properties for buyouts.

IDED has now released 515 new case files to the city to proceed with buyouts, but, Eyerly says, there's an unexpected new problem: About 80 percent of those cases have “defects” in their property titles. Those defects include liens or unpaid property taxes and even unpaid child-support payments in some instances. Until the defects are fixed, the city can'y close on the property purchases.

The state agency continues to conduct checks for “duplication of benefits” - some earlier public payments and private insurance payments must be identified and deducted from any buyout offer - on another 400 cases, Eyerly said.

To date, the city has closed on the purchase of 90 properties in the area of the 100-year flood plain that is close to the river and will become a public greenway. Another five sales are pending there. Funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were used for those buyouts.

Federal Community Development Block Grant funds are being used for the largest share of buyouts, and to date the city has closed on 66 buyouts using CDBG funds with another 27 expected by the end of the week, Eyerly reports.

In total, 183 buyouts will be complete by week's end, he says.