The Detroit 0% Interest Home Repair Loan Program provides financing for eligible homeowners looking to replace or patch roofs, replace windows, upgrade plumbing, make electrical repairs, replace the furnace, and address structural or safety issues. The $8M program was announced by Mayor Mike Duggan in March 2015.
About
The Detroit 0% Interest Home Repair Loan Program is an unprecedented opportunity and we encourage all eligible homeowners to apply.
The program is directed at Detroit homeowners earning up to 80 percent of the area median income ($54,150 for a family of four), as well as households in designated areas of the city (regardless of their income), including almost all of southwest Detroit. The program is designed to help homeowners fix deteriorating properties and help eliminate blight.
Loans are available between $5,000 and $25,000 for Detroit homeowners who own and occupy single-family homes. Homeowners who own properties with two units, such as duplexes, can be eligible for up to $50,000 as long as they live in one of the units. Loans are paid back over ten years. There is no fee for paying back a loan early. Homeowners pay back only what they borrow.
The aim of the program is to help Detroit homeowners who have stayed in the city to invest in their homes and neighborhoods. To qualify for a loan, the homeowner must have occupied the home for at least 6 months.
Southwest Solutions is one of the nonprofit partners in the program serving as an Intake Center to help eligible homeowners complete the intake forms and start the loan application process. Our Intake Center is at the offices of Southwest Economc Solutions at 2835 Bagley, Suite. 800, Detroit, MI 48216. Intake forms can be downloaded on the City’s website devoted to the Home Repair Program.
Background
The program is a city-led partnership with Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), and Bank of America. It helps fill a growing market gap — owners who want to invest in their homes but can’t get affordable traditional financing because property values have eroded their ability to borrow.
Funding for the program comes from $4 million of Community Development Block Grant funds from HUD, as well as $4 million from Bank of America. LISC will use the funding to provide loans to qualified homeowners.
A dozen nonprofit agencies in the city will serve as Intake Centers for the program. They are: Bridging Communities; Central Detroit Christian CDC; Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance; Detroit Non-Profit Housing Corp.; Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit; Jefferson East, Inc.; New Hope Community Development; Operation ABLE; SER Metro Detroit; Southwest Solutions; U SNAP BAC; and Wayne Metro Community Action Agency.
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Results
“The impact of this program will go well beyond the walls of the houses it helps repair,” said Michael Rubinger, LISC president and CEO.
“We are building a case for investing in homes, businesses, schools and parks in Detroit neighborhoods — even in places that might appear too risky for conventional financing models.”
As homeowners pay back the loans, they will improve their credit history, while also building a track record of loan performance that will encourage others to lend and invest in these communities.