AT HOME ON THEIR BEATS; PLAN HELPS COPS WHERE THEY WORK.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Having closed escrow on a home in the east San Fernando Valley, Roy and Stacy Talavera were pleased to learn that their new neighbors are enthusiastic about having them on their street.

And why not? In crime-conscious Los Angeles, the fact that Roy Talavera is a Los Angeles Police Department officer would make him a welcome addition to just about any neighborhood.

That is the reasoning of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, which made possible the Talaveras' purchase of their three-bedroom, two-bath home under a new Officer Next Door program.

Talavera, 27, who has been renting elsewhere in the city, is the first LAPD officer to buy a home under the federal program that subsidized the cost of foreclosed properties that have fallen back into HUD ownership. The Talaveras were able to close the deal for a total $50,000 purchase price and only a $100 down payment. The house was appraised at $104,000 in value.

``For a young couple like myself and my wife, who have young children and are renting, it allows us to afford a home in a nice area where before we weren't able to,'' said Talavera, who has been with the LAPD for two years and is a traffic collision investigator for the Valley Traffic Bureau.

The low down payment and $420 monthly mortgage payment also mean that Stacy Talavera can stay home with the couple's children instead of having to go to work and place the toddlers in day care.

More than 100 other LAPD officers have also expressed an interest in the HUD program, which makes available foreclosure properties in HUD's possession.

``When police move into a community, criminals move out,'' said HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo in announcing Tuesday that Talavera is the first LAPD officer to buy a home under the program.

Nick Retsinas, HUD's assistant secretary for housing, said during a news conference in the Crenshaw District that the program will encourage stability in neighborhoods targeted for revitalization.

``It will promote community because we think communities are enhanced when working families are part of the communities,'' he said.

The city developed a separate program last year after the American Civil Liberties Union released a survey that found 81 percent of LAPD officers live outside the city. The civil rights group said that creates a distance between officers and the people they serve.

The city program provides forgivable loans to officers who buy homes in Los Angeles. It is in the city's best interest to have officers live in the city they protect, according to Mayor Richard Riordan.

``It's a great program,'' Riordan said of the HUD effort. ``It brings police officers close to the people they are protecting.''

For the Talaveras family, the HUD program allowed them to stop renting in Los Angeles and buy a home in the area where they grew up.

Police rookie Robert Surman and his wife will actually save money by giving up their Sherman Oaks rental for a three-bedroom home in North Hills.

The Surmans are paying around $64,000 to buy a house appraised at $135,000.

The alternative might have been to live in one of the distant suburbs.

``It's a lot less commuting and I like L.A.,'' said Wendy Surman, whose husband is about to graduate from the Police Academy. ``We have no problem with living in the city where he's working.''

Surman plans to make the couple's presence known in their new neighborhood.

``It's an excellent opportunity to get involved in the community,'' Wendy Surman said. ``I'm excited about starting up a Neighborhood Watch program.''

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Photo

PHOTO LAPD Officer Roy Talavera gives a bottle to his daughter Analyse as his wife Stacy looks on.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News