States may miss out on foreclosure aid

In 2008 the Federal Government passed the Neighborhood Stabilization Program with 3.9 billion in federal aid, however there was an 18 month timeline in which the monies had to be used. The timeline began in March of 2009 leaving roughly around two months for Government agencies to spend 1 billion in federal aid before the cut off point.
Due to now or never spending guidelines being just weeks away, cities are scrambling to shore up neighborhoods with the purchases of foreclosed and abandoned properties. The focus is being switched from single family homes to multi-family or rental housing in order to spend the money and meet low income set aside rules.
According to Mercedes Marquez of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development, the pace has increased, but she has made it clear there will be no extensions and any unused funds will be redistributed to the areas with the highest priority. It appears that state run programs are having the most difficulty spending their funds.
One wonders, with all the emphasis on correction of the housing market, how could states risk losing millions of dollars simply because they were too busy to spend them? If the resources are available you would think officials would make the effort to try and correct the problem especially with elections just around the corner.