USDA offers low interest loans, grants for home repairsHURON - Will your house be ready this year for the blowing snow, winds and freezing rain? USDA Rural Development has low-interest loans and grants available to help eligible families make essential repairs to their home. Loans have a fixed interest rate as low as one percent and typically may be repaid over a term of 20 years.“Loans and grants assist eligible families with needed repairs that they otherwise couldn’t afford,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Mike Jaspers. “A family could be eligible to receive a $3,000 loan that has a monthly payment as low as $13.80.”Examples of eligible projects include repair/replacement of storm doors, windows, steps, furnaces, water heaters or roofs. Funds can also be used for insulation, electrical, plumbing and septic and water systems, and to provide accessibility for persons with disabilities. Homes repaired with these funds must be located in communities of less than 20,000 people or in rural areas.
To be eligible for a repair loan, the family applying must own and live in the home to be repaired, lack personal resources to pay for needed repairs, have a good credit history, limited assets and have repayment ability. Rural Development also has grants available to help applicants who are 62 or older remove health and safety hazards or to make the home accessible for a disabled family member. To qualify for assistance, the household income must fall under qualifying income limits for the county and household size.
