The town wants more applicants for a state-funded $300,000 Housing Rehabilitation Program whose goal is to help residents bring their homes up to building code and improve living conditions.
In October, newly hired Housing Rehabilitation Director Cathy Traietti inherited a two-year-old waiting list of roughly 50 homeowners who previously expressed interest in the 5-year-old housing rehabilitation program that provides deferred payment loans for up to $30,000 for residents who qualify.
Residents can use the money to bring properties into compliance with current building codes. This can mean removing asbestos and lead paint, making a home handicapped-accessible, and replacing heating units or roofs.
The state defines eligible incomes on a sliding scale. For instance: a single person earning less than $46,300, a two-person home with income less than $52,950, and a four-person home earning less than $66,150 are all eligible.
Eligible residential units must be within the town's identified target area, which encompasses the older sections of town including downtown, and parts of central and South Norwood, mainly along Washington Street and adjacent roads.
This summer, the town received $300,000 grant from the Department of Community and Housing Development to continue the program and Traietti estimated the money would pay for between 12 and 15 property upgrades. The money comes in the form of a 15-year deferred payment loan with no monthly payments.
The loan is forgiven after 15 years provided the resident is still living in the home, but the owner has to pay a pro-rated portion if it is sold before that time.
Originally, Traietti thought the existing waiting list would be more than adequate to burn through the grant money, but she said after sifting through the applicants she discovered there were only about eight viable projects.
Traietti said some of the people on the initial waiting list no longer live in town, others have done the work themselves over the past two years, while others no longer want to do it.
Additionally, the list contained a number of interested residents who live outside the town's target area. Traietti said she approached the state's Department of Housing and Community Development about the possibility of using the grant money outside the target area, but the request was denied.
"They really want to use this money in specific areas," said Traietti.
Traietti is now asking other interested residents in the town's target area to submit applications, saying she believes Norwood will have money to do at least four or five more properties with the recent grant and said she also wants to start building a waiting list for the fiscal 2010 round of money, if Norwood gets the grant again.
Traietti said she can tell people over the phone whether their income qualifies and if their house is in the target area. In April, she will mail out the full applications to all pre-qualified residents and those applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Traietti said the hope is to get residents qualified and put contracts out to bid for work to start in the spring.
Anybody interested can get more information by calling Traietti at 781-762-8115, ext. 209, or emailing her at ctraietti@norwoodha.org.
Daily News staff writer Brian Falla can be reached at 781-433-8339 or at bfalla@cnc.com.
