Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Services Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City reviews rehab, demolition and rental‑assistance programs and foreclosure prevention limits
Summary
Staff reported program counts and expenditures for owner‑occupied rehab, demolition/reconstruction, rental assistance and foreclosure prevention, and described eligibility rules and administrative practices.
Sheila Ware, Housing and Community Services, gave the commission a program‑by‑program rundown of repair, rental and foreclosure prevention services the city administers.
Ware said owner‑occupied rehab and emergency repair are key strategies. She said the department received 373 applications this fiscal year and serviced 310 clients across programs; that included 101 rental assistance recipients and 11 owner‑occupied rehab awards in the fiscal year cited (10 owner‑occupied rehabs completed in the fiscal year and one emergency repair). For owner‑occupied rehab she said the department places a 15‑year lien (0% interest) that is forgiven if the homeowner remains in the property for the lien period; staff work with code compliance and use client resources (insurance proceeds, etc.) alongside program funds to complete repairs.
On demolition and reconstruction, Ware said the program is for properties that cannot be rehabbed because repair would exceed a threshold (she mentioned a commonly used 50 percent of property value rule) or the home is unsafe; she showed before‑and‑after photos and said demolition/reconstruction awards totaled $2,190,000 across the program period presented.
Rental assistance: Ware said the city provides deposits, utility assistance and eviction‑prevention services for properties within city limits and that payments are made directly to landlords or utilities — not to beneficiaries — to protect funds and ensure they cover the intended expense. She said the city had spent approximately $835,000 on rental assistance from 2021 through 06/30/2025 and that two rental units in the NSP portfolio were vacant and available for placement; she stressed that staff perform budget counseling to ensure clients can sustain rent after assistance ends.
Foreclosure prevention: Ware said the city’s SHIP foreclosure assistance maximum had been reduced from $25,000 to $10,000 in the latest LHAP and that the office emphasizes lender negotiations, borrower counseling and exhausting modification options before committing funds.
Commissioners asked about past audit findings and an earlier forensic audit that flagged payments to properties owned by a prior director. Jared Jones and others clarified that the forensic review had found some improper payments tied to the former director’s outside business dealings but that those issues did not involve federally funded properties administered under HHRP or SHIP, per the presentation and the discussion.
Ending: Ware said the housing office had been HUD‑certified for housing counseling after a December 2024 performance review and that the agency’s foreclosure rate on SHIP mortgages is about 1 percent; commissioners asked staff to circulate the accounting and administrative cost breakdowns requested earlier.
