JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Bank program to help people buy, rehabilitate blighted Detroit homes

Financial giant JPMorgan Chase and Liberty Bank are starting a program in Detroit to help people finance, repair and restore homes being sold through the city's online auctions.

The financial institutions announced Thursday that the Home Restoration Program is for those buying homes through Detroit Land Bank Authority auctions and will include other "priority neighborhoods" in the future.

JPMorgan Chase, through the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, will provide $5.5 million to Liberty Bank's nonprofit community development bank, Liberty Foundation Inc., to help people in Detroit purchase and rehabilitate blighted properties.

It's part of JPMorgan Chase's plans announced in May to spend $100 million over five years in Detroit to support and accelerate the bankrupt city's economic recovery. So far, JPMorgan Chase says it's put $20 million to work.