Fairfax County steps into foreclosure fray

FAIRFAX, Va., July 1 (UPI) -- Fairfax County, Va., is tackling the foreclosure issue head on by proposing to use $10 million to purchase homes and help buyers find loans, sources said.

The county's Board of Supervisors agreed Monday to initiate a program of buying 10 foreclosed homes and subsidizing loans, The Washington Post reported.

Most of the help will go to first-time buyers who make as much as 80 percent of the county's median income of $75,600, the report said.

Condominiums are excluded from the program and most purchases will be limited to homes valued at less than $385,000, the Post reported.

"The county has to use its resources and influence to try to stem the tide" of foreclosures, said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly, who proposed the plan.