Government-owned foreclosures up for rent?

President OBAMA is considering clearing out the federal government's inventory of foreclosed homes by converting them into rentals, sold in bulk to private investors. It's an effort to stabilize neighborhoods, by allowing families to lease vacant homes. In two or three years, we're going to have to sell those. The proposal hopes to clear the government's balance sheet of hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes they say are too hard to sell. But here in Southwest Florida, Realtors say the market is slowly, but surely bouncing back. We're actually looking for more inventory," Briggs said. Foreclosure filings are down dramatically in Lee County since the housing bubble burst. People that want to live there, take care of their homes, live the American dream," Joseph said Thursday. The proposal to sell government-owned foreclosures as rental properties is still in the early stages of consideration. Experts say it could also help meet the growing demand of Americans looking to rent. Realtors