More May Qualify for Rehabilitation Loans

The city has opened the door a little wider for low-income residents who want to improve their homes, but not as much as housing officials would have liked.

City Council members tentatively agreed this week to lower the eligibility ceiling for the city’s housing rehabilitation program after the housing coordinator argued that they could be helping more residents.

The program uses $500,000 in federal funds to help about 40 lower-income families improve their homes each year, said May Hui, assistant director of development services. Housing officials would like to see as many as 10 more families getting help, Hui said.

Only those who earn no more than half of the county’s median annual income, which is $58,000 for a family of four, can apply now. Housing officials had requested that those earning as much as 80% of the median could apply for deferred-payment, low-income loans through the program.

“It’s only to be consistent with what other cities are doing and to broaden the base of those eligible,” Housing Coordinator Claire Chacon-Hake said. “It would open the doors for a lot of people.”

Applicants can borrow as much as $32,000 for home repairs, with payments at a 5% interest rate until the property is sold or transferred to heirs.

“This program is not for anybody who knocks on the door,” Chacon-Hake said. “Those who could get a bank loan will be directed the other way.”

The council tentatively agreed Monday to raise the maximum income level requirement to 65% of the median, but they rejected a proposal to lower the interest rate to 3%.

“It doesn’t bother me that we don’t have a lot of applicants,” Councilman Don Griffin said. “I don’t want to see us become the low-interest loan center for the community.”