March 16, 2012 [Columbus Business First]

Cleveland and Cuyahoga county are seeking federal dollars and state money from a national mortgage fraud settlement as a match for the $14 million it is putting up to demolish blighted homes, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

They are requesting a portion of the $75 million that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said he would set aside for demolishing abandoned and blighted buildings, the newspaper reports. Ohio’s slice of the $25 billion settlement with some of the nation’s largest lenders is about $335 million.

The Cleveland area’s contribution to the demolition program would come in the form of $5 million from a Cuyahoga land bank, $5 million from the Cuyahoga County prosecutor and $4 million from the city of Cleveland, the newspaper reports. The average demolition cost is about $7,500, the newspaper reports.