Rusk HOME grant application deadline slated for Aug. 24

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Jacksonville resident Deborah Muhammad's home, in need of repair through a HOME grant. Progress photo by Faith Harper

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August 8, 2012

Rusk HOME grant application deadline slated for Aug. 24

Faith Harper Jacksonville Daily Progress The Jacksonville Daily Progress Wed Aug 08, 2012, 08:31 AM CDT

JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville resident Deborah Muhammad is visiting her 29-year-old daughter Sharman Walker and 2-year-old granddaughter Kerrington Brooks at their home in Cedar Hill, near Dallas.

Muhammad, 57, said she has been staying with her daughter since July 5, and anticipates staying there until October, while she has a new home built.

While Rusk began accepting HOME grant applications Tuesday, the cities of Jacksonville, Bullard and New Summerfield are accepting additional applications because they have not helped the number of residents allowed under the federal program.

The grants are offered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Muhammad's current three-bedroom wooden-frame home, at 803 Sims St. in Jacksonville, has plumbing and wiring problems. She said the roof needs to be replaced and the foundation shifted, causing the floors to slump at an angle.

At no cost to Muhammad, a new brick structure will sit on the same spot as her previous house. It will will be about the same size with the same number of bedrooms, but it will be structurally sound, handicap accessible and energy efficient.

“I'm excited,” she said. “I'm just waiting on time. I'm trying to be patient but it's hard when you know you are getting something new. I'm like a child in a candy store. I really am excited.”

She said she thanks God for the opportunity. And while she waits for her dream home to be completed, Muhammad said she has started looking at new living room furniture. She said family from Dallas comes to visit often and she wants to make them comfortable in her home.

“I want to get it so when they come down they don't have to worry about (anything),” she said. “They have somewhere comfortable to lay their head, and we can sit and talk and do whatever we want to do.”

Muhammad is one of four residents who have been approved for their homes to be demolished and rebuilt in the city of Jacksonville, said Janet Amiri, HOME project manager for Gary R. Traylor and Associates in Tyler. Amiri said two more applications are pending in the system and an additional two applications recently submitted.

The firm manages the grant for the cities of Jacksonville, Rusk, Bullard and New Summerfield, and Amiri said grant funds are still available in each city.

“If anyone is interested, go ahead and put an application in,” Amari said. “A lot of people can apply but not everyone is going to qualify. Just because you apply that doesn't mean you are going to make it.”

Applications are available at each city hall. Residents must fill them out and gather necessary documentation and return it to the city hall, where it will be stamped and sent to Traylor and Associates.

After an information session, applications were first made available in Rusk on Tuesday. The deadline for them is Aug. 24, but it may be extended until the city uses all of its allotted funding, which is enough to potentially help 17 applicants.

Applicants can apply replace their home or repair it. Up to $80,000 is available per application for replacing a damaged home with a new one and up to $30,000 for rehabilitation of a home.

“That also includes what we call 'soft costs' to do the inspections,” Amari said. “It's not all hard cost, brick and mortar costs, that are put into the house. We demolish the old house and build a new one in the footprint of the old house.”

Residents who qualify will have the choice of a two or three bedroom, one bathroom 1,134-square foot home.

Mark Taylor, senior vice president of Traylor and Associates, said in the 10 years they have been working to help administer the grant, he has only seen two rehabilitations. He said after rehabilitation, the homes must be completely up to building code standards and homes built before 1978 have to be checked for lead paint.

“The probability of that is slim to none,” he said in the Rusk information seminar.

Funds are also available to replace mobile homes, but Taylor said the owner must own the home and the property it sits on to qualify.

Homeowners must:

• Own their home and have a a free and simple title.

• Live inside the city limits in which they are applying for the grant.

• Live outside a flood plain.

• Be current on all property taxes.

• Live in the home as their primary residence.

• Meet household income requirements set by HUD.

Income

requirements

Income requirements are set based on how many people live in the structure. The incomes of each person living in the home will count.

• For one person, 2,304 monthly or $27,650 annually.

• For two people, $2,633 monthly or $31,600 annually.

• For three people, $2,963 monthly or $35,550 annually.

• For four people, $3,288 monthly or $39,450 annually.

• For five people, $3,554 monthly or $42,650 annually.

Additional homeowner obligations

• Homeowners must maintain the home as their primary residence and carry homeowners insurance for a period of time based on where their income falls within each bracket.

• The required time the resident must live in the home for the total to be paid off is anywhere between five to 15 years.

• Residents who earn 80 percent of the maximum in their bracket are eligible for a zero percent loan to be paid out over 15 years. Traylor said the payments average about $450 per month.

• If a resident moves out before the allotted time in the contract, they will be required to pay any money owed back to the state of Texas.

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Rusk HOME grant application deadline slated for Aug. 24

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