State funding available for home renovations By LAUREN STANFORTH Staff writer
SCHENECTADY -- The city is making almost $1 million in state funding available for qualified homeowners to fix their properties.
The money from the New York State Affordable Housing Corp. provides grants of up to $60,000 per unit to help single-family homeowners repair health and safety hazards, eliminate code violations and increase energy efficiency in their homes. Informational sessions will be held to inform homeowners about the qualifications and how to apply. The sessions will be at Community Land Trust of Schenectady, 1677 Van Vranken Ave. at the following times: 10 a.m. Friday; 4 p.m. Tuesday, and 10 a.m. Wednesday. Call 372-7616 to register.
If folks can't afford to fix up their homes or bring them up to code..........then they clearly should not be owning a home!!! DUH!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The New York State taxpayer is going to give slumlords money to fix their property...GREAT! Let's see how much Popaliz will contribute to the McCarthy campaign and the Democrat Party so he can get his hands on that money.
Liens prevent home repair help in Schenectady Previous funding hurts eligibility Saturday, August 20, 2011
SCHENECTADY — A new Schenectady home repair program has hit an unexpected snag: many residents are ineligible because they have turned to such programs too many times already. Like most “free” repair grants, the program comes with a lien on the owner’s house for the value of the repairs. After a certain number of years, the lien is erased, without owners making any payments on it. But while it’s there, their borrowing power is limited — and it may keep them from getting more help, particularly if they also have a mortgage, a second mortgage and a home equity loan. “One of the challenges we’re finding is over the years there’s been other grant programs out there. They have three, four or five liens,” said Community Land Trust Executive Director Beverly Burnett. “That’s what we hit today.” On Friday, the land trust held its first informational meeting about a new program that will pump $60,000 of repairs into each eligible house. But only one person qualified for the grant. Others were interested but simply owed too much on their house. Another $60,000 in liens would bring the total amount of liens to above the house’s market value. In other words, they had maxed out their house’s borrowing power. Part of the problem may be that other repair programs were too small. Petersen said that a previous program, which spent up to $25,000 per house, often could only temporarily fix serious problems. “Sometimes it was just a Band-Aid to a problem. We had families come back, seven years later,” she said. With the new program, she’s hoping to fix problems for good. “We’re trying to get those houses who, for $60,000, wouldn’t have a Band-Aid repair. We’re going to go through and predict what will become a problem in the next 10 years,” she said. “Certainly, homes that are in complete deterioration are not going to be in this program.” Code enforcers will also recommend the program to residents during inspections and code violation sweeps. “We’re going to tell the residents on site, you should give the Land Trust a call,” she said. Then the only question will be whether they’re eligible for help. “We will not lien people for more than the value of the house,” Burnett said. That’s one of many rules for the money, which comes from the HOME program of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the state Affordable Housing Corp. In total, nearly $1 million has been set aside to repair 16 city houses. City officials hope this program will be so successful that HUD and the state will double its money in future years. Homeownership Coordinator Ann Petersen wants to repair 30 to 60 houses a year, which would cost $1.8 million to $3 million annually. “We’ve got really old housing stock, and a lot of people can’t pay to get the repairs done,” she said. “They’re working, paying their bills, but they’re barely scraping by with the mortgage. I think almost every house in the city could use this program.” Less than half are eligible. They must be single-family homes. The owner must live in the house, be current on taxes and the mortgage, have insurance and make less than 80 percent of the area’s median salary. For a family of four, the top total salary allowed is $61,600. For a family of three, it’s $55,450, according to HUD’s latest calculations........................>>>>.......................>>>>...................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2011/aug/20/0820_liens/
If folks can't afford to fix up their homes or bring them up to code..........then they clearly should not be owning a home!!! DUH!
It's more like they can't afford to fix up their homes because the dems keep hiking the taxes of the financially strugging honeowners----keep stealing money from the homeowners in order to give out the property and school tax exemptions of the millioniares downtown
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
...and a lot of people can’t pay to get the repairs done,” she said. “They’re working, paying their bills, but they’re barely scraping by with the mortgage...
And why is the "mortgage" so high???????? Tell us DV, WHY is the mortgage so high?????????
Because in most case the tax bill is MORE THAN HALF of the total mortgage payment!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why is the tax bill more than half????? Becuase the dems are STEALING from these financially struggling homeowners in order to give 100% property and school tax exemptions to the millioniares downtown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Like I said before........if ya can't keep up the maintance/code on your home.......you should NOT be a homeowner and expect the taxpayers, who are maintaining their own homes........to maintain yours too!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Get rid of the tax exemptions for millioniares downtown and the proerty and school taxes will go down.
Get rid of all the theft from taxpayers to pay for all the stuff downtown, and the taxpayers will have the money to fix up their home without any government grants.
Vicious cycle.
Dems want to make their political cronies rich. Dems raise taxes on the average citizen in order to give money to their rich cronies, e.g., to "fix up" downtown. Dems then exempt their rich cronies from paying proeprty & school taxes. Homeowners are getting robbed via taxes and then dems make grants avaiable to homeowners to fix up their homes. Taxes go up, more people leave the city. Dems give out more money to their cronies to "fix up" downtown.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Programs like these are especially helpful to senior citizens who are trying to remain living in their own homes. Any reasonable, intelligent and decent person would support such a program. Of course - that explains why the Nattering Nayboobs oppose it as they are unreasonable, unintelligent and despicable people.
This is what the die-hard Tea Party types want --- throw all but the wealthiest people out onto the streets. The hypocrisy is that these same Tea Partiers claim to be such good Christian people ----- but they are not Christian .... they are heartless bastards.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
Programs like these are especially helpful to senior citizens who are trying to remain living in their own homes. .
There is already a program out there for seniors who own homes and are low income. I happen to know a few. They got their home 'fixed up' through Office of the Aging/Heap/advanced Star etc.... they got new furnaces, windows, doors, refrigerators etc.....
So there already is a program out there for seniors. And it is there understanding, that since they have already used one government program to 'fix up' their home....they are not entitled to use another.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Programs like these are especially helpful to senior citizens who are trying to remain living in their own homes. Any reasonable, intelligent and decent person would support such a program. Of course - that explains why the Nattering Nayboobs oppose it as they are unreasonable, unintelligent and despicable people.
This is what the die-hard Tea Party types want --- throw all but the wealthiest people out onto the streets. The hypocrisy is that these same Tea Partiers claim to be such good Christian people ----- but they are not Christian .... they are heartless bastards.
They see the future and plan....fix it before ya get too old to fix it or get out and down size....no one ever said a 3 bedroom colonial is your guaranteed burial ground....if you want it to be then by all means figure it out yourself....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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