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Williamsport considers clearing decades-old rehabilitation mortgages totaling about $1.5 million
Summary
City staff told council an ordinance would let the city proactively release mortgages placed on low- and moderate-income homeowners under past rehabilitation programs; staff said records show about 70 active mortgages going back to the 1980s with a combined balance of roughly $1.5 million and that satisfying them would improve HUD program-income reporting.
An ordinance before the Williamsport City Council Committee of the Whole on March 3 would let city staff proactively release and satisfy mortgages placed on homes through past low- and moderate-income rehabilitation programs.
Miss Fesler, presenting the ordinance, said the city has maintained mortgages tied to those grants and that many were 30-year deferred notes. "We have records of mortgages going back into the 80s," she said, adding the city currently shows about "70 active mortgages" and a total outstanding balance of "about 1.5 million." She told council that if approved, staff would be able to initiate satisfactions rather than waiting for homeowners to request them.
The measure is presented as administrative relief for homeowners and the city. Miss Fesler told council the satisfactions would not affect the general fund because the mortgages are tracked in the department's records rather than as general-fund receivables. She also said resolving the outstanding mortgages helps the city meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) expectations for program income, noting HUD "requires us to have a zero balance on program income at the end of every year."
Council members asked how far back the records reach and how the change affects budgeting. Miss Fesler reiterated the records go back decades, that some mortgages "could have been satisfied 10 or 15 years ago," and that the policy would be handled administratively if the ordinance passes.
No formal vote on the ordinance is recorded in the committee transcript. The ordinance was discussed for clarification; council members raised no amendments during the committee session. The next procedural step was for the item to be included on the forthcoming council agenda for final consideration and any recorded vote.
