Authority to support housing counseling
The Uniontown Redevelopment Authority agreed Tuesday to pay a local agency to provide housing counseling for three or four residents or families that will become first-time homebuyers through a grant funded program. The board, on Tuesday, unanimously approved paying Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc. $500 to make the potential homeowners “mortgage ready” and offer additional counseling to help them budget and maintain their homes after they move in.
Authority Executive Director William Long told the board that the $1,500 to $2,000 needed to counsel the potential buyers will come from the same $265,000 state grant that will be used to help them rehabilitate their homes and provide rehabilitation grants and loans to 11 existing homeowners.
The Department of Community and Economic Development awarded the grant in January to the authority to run its Home program.
The program provides low-interest loans, deferred loans and grants to homeowners that meet income qualifications to have needed repairs performed on their houses. The maximum qualifying income for a family of four is around $39,000.
Although the DCED grant was the first state funding for the program since 1995, the authority has kept the program active by using federal Community Development Block Grants.
The state grant was equal to slightly less than 50 percent of the Home program’s entire $480,000 budget.
Long said about a dozen applications have been received for the first-time buyers program and there is a waiting list for the existing homeowners rehabilitation program.
Responding to questions from board members about Community Action’s $500 fee, Long said the authority is required by the federal government to provide housing counseling for first-time buyers.
Counselors will help them repair their credit ratings, plan budgets and understand the responsibilities that go along with home ownership, he said.
“They make them mortgage ready,” Long said. “They’re a very strong group. That’s their fee.”
He said Community Action has provided similar services to the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority and the City of Connellsville.
Board member Brian Ludy said the agency offers continuing assistance after the purchase.
Board member John Ptak asked if Community Action would guarantee that the potential owners that receive counseling are fully prepared to take on home ownership?
Long said there are no guarantees, but default and foreclosure rates for homeowners who participate in such programs is less than the national average.
Board Chairman Alvin Mundel asked if even “educated” first-time buyers would be required to enroll in counseling.
Long said the counseling is mandated.
In unrelated business, the authority rescheduled its annual reorganization meeting to March 12 at the Uniontown County Club. It was set for March 11.