Last Updated on November 4, 2022 3:00 pm
Essential Single Family Rehabilitation
WAMY Community Action, Inc. is currently accepting applications for the Essential Single Family Rehab (ESFR) program, administered through the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA). Funding from ESFR will assist with essential and critical repairs to single-family homes that are owned and occupied by lower-income households. These repairs help veterans, seniors, and persons with disabilities stay in their homes, saving on health care and long-term care costs.
Qualifying units must be located in Watauga County and be owner-occupied, having a full-time household member who is an older adult (age 62+), disabled or a veteran, or a household with a child under the age of six whose health is threatened by the presence of lead hazards. Site built, off-frame modular units, and manufactured homes on permanent foundations will be eligible for consideration; all homes served must be considered as real property. The gross household income (before taxes) cannot exceed 80% of the area median income for Watauga County (see chart). The cost of rehabilitation cannot be less than $5,000, nor exceed $40,000 and the property cannot have been repaired of rehabilitated with public funding of $30,000 or more within the past 10 years.
ESFR is an interest-free loan secured by a Deed of Trust, forgiven at the rate of $8,000 per year, until the principal balance is reduced to zero. No loan payments are required from the homeowner unless the house is sold or transfers ownership.
Typical repairs supported by the program might include roof repair/replacement, door/window replacement, plumbing/electric, accessibility improvements for individuals with disabilities, and other general improvements related to health and safety.
Applications are available by calling WAMY Community Action, Inc. at (828) 264-2421, or a pre-application can be found on our website at wamycommunityaction.org
Applications should be returned as soon as possible, but no later than 5PM on December 31, 2022. Selection of units will not be completed until February 15, 2023.
Urgent Repair Program
WAMY Community Action, Inc. is currently accepting applications for the Urgent Repair Program (URP), administered through the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA). This program provides funds to assist very low and low-income households with special needs in addressing housing conditions which pose imminent threats to their life and/or safety or to provide accessibility modifications and other repairs necessary to prevent displacement of very-low and low- income homeowners with special needs, such as elders and individuals with disabilities.
To be eligible for assistance, applicants must: reside within Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, or Yancey counties and own and occupy the home in need of repair; have a household income with does not exceed 50% of the county median income for the household size (see income limits below); must have a special need (=/>62 years old, disabled, a single parent with dependent living at the home, a veteran, a large family with =/>5 household members, or a household with a child below the age of six with lead hazards in the home).
WAMY will provide assistance to homeowners whose homes are selected for repair/modification in the form of a loan. Homeowners will receive an unsecured, deferred, interest-free loan, forgiven at a rate of $3,000 per year, until the principal balance is reduced to zero.
Only repairs that address imminent threats to the life and/or safety of occupants of the dwelling unit or accessibility modifications will be performed under WAMY’s URP. Please understand that all deficiencies in a home will likely not be able to be repaired with the available funds.
The amount of the loan will depend on the scope of work necessary to address the identified imminent threats to life and/or safety, and that will be determined by WAMY Rehabilitation Specialist. There is no minimum to the amount of the loan; however, the maximum life-time limit according to the guidelines of URP22 is $12,000.
Applications are available by calling WAMY Community Action, Inc. at (828) 264-2421, or a pre-application can be found on our website at wamycommunityaction.org
Applications should be returned as soon as possible, but no later than 5PM on December 1, 2022. Selection of units will not be completed until January 5, 2023.
