Home Loans at Extremely Low Rates

(Middletown) - February 6, 2007 - U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is offering home repair loans at one-percent interest for qualifying very-low income homeowners. Homeowners 62 and older who cannot afford a loan may qualify for a grant.

The loans and grants are available through USDA Rural Development’s Section 504 Home Repair Loan Program. Loan funds can be used to make general home repairs and improvements. Grant funds are used to make accessibility improvements for disabled household members or to remove health and safety hazards.

Applicants may obtain multiple Section 504 loans, but the maximum outstanding at a given time is $20,000 and the maximum repayment term is 20 years. Grants are limited to a lifetime assistance of $7,500.

To be eligible for a home repair loan, applicants must live in a rural area, have an acceptable credit history, the ability to repay the loan and an income falling within the very-low category for the household size of the county inhabited. To view income limits and rural eligibility requirements for Section 504 and other USDA Rural Development Single Family Housing (SFH) programs, visit http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAcdon.do7NavKey-home@l.
For more information on USDA Rural Development housing programs, residents in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Westchester, Putnam, and Suffolk Counties should contact the USDA, Rural Development at 225 Dolson Ave., Suite 104, Middletown, NY 10940 at (845) 343-1872 Ext. #4. The Middletown, NY, USDA Service Center can also provide information on other USDA Rural Development programs. Additional information is also available online at the following web address: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ny.

USDA Rural Development’s mission is to deliver programs in a way that will support increasing economic opportunity and improve the quality of life of rural residents. As a venture capital entity, USDA Rural Development provides equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure. In fiscal year 2006, USDA Rural Development invested more than $250 million in rural New York, raising its total investment in the state to more than $1.2 billion since 2001.