Warren looks to add home repair, down payment help program

WARREN — Homeowners in the city of Warren may soon be able to receive assistance for home repairs or down payments thanks to a program approved by the City Council.

At their Dec. 16 meeting, council members discussed creating a special revenue fund that would use $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded to the city to help Warren residents repair their homes or receive income-based assistance toward a down payment on a new home. Qualified homeowners could receive up to $25,000 for repairs under the proposal.

“This is something that probably should have had a press release and a big fanfare about, because I think this is one of the most positive things that’s happened in the city for years,” Council Secretary Mindy Moore said. “We wanted to make people’s lives better, and I think this will do it.”

At the meeting, Moore said besides using ARPA funds for infrastructure and other projects around the city, they wanted to use it to help Warren homeowners. The idea resurfaced during conversations about the city’s budget.

Moore said the grants would be used for foundational repairs, such as electrical problems or porch repairs.

“Porches are a huge problem in some areas of town,” she said. “Everybody that’s walked door-to-door knows that. It’s a problem for our police and fire. This is a way to get things like that done.”

Before a grant would be handed to a resident, the home would be inspected, Moore said.

“We’ll be inspecting all the homes to see what needs to be done. There might be homes that it’s not worth putting in the money, and we just couldn’t do it. It wouldn’t be enough,” she said.

Homebuyers can also receive up to $25,000, Moore said, and oftentimes lenders will contribute up to $10,000. Councilman Johnathan Lafferty said this is because of the Community Reinvestment Act.

“The banks are required to participate, and there’s certain thresholds that are established per community, and banks are obligated to fulfill those,” he said.

Some of the requirements to qualify for the grant would include making sure the buyer is able to make the payments once the house is purchased. They might also be required to attend training on topics such as budgeting and maintenance, Moore said.

Moore added one of the plans outside of the program is to work with building trades to provide education.

“We need to do that in the city now, not just for this program, but we need better education for property maintenance and things like that,” she said.

Lafferty added that a program like this might help prevent homes from being demolished due to poor upkeep.

“We’ve talked, how many times, if only this person had put a roof on this particular home 10 years ago, we wouldn’t be here today demolishing a home because the home wasn’t properly weatherized. And it’s a program like that, with sufficient funding, (it) can save those homes from ever going down the abatement path,” he said.

Councilman Dave Dwyer added that the program might also help to cut down on the number of rentals in the city.

“It encourages people to go out and buy a home, and I believe it will reduce the rentals that we currently have in the city,” he said. “So I think that’s definitely a good thing as well.”

Councilman Henry Newnan called the program both “tremendous” and “exciting.”

Council members voted unanimously to approve the request. Additionally, they also voted unanimously to approve the program for a two-year period, with the option to extend it to four years.