LEWISTON – Lewiston-based landlords and those who keep their properties up to code will have the edge in getting housing rehab loans.

The City Council has voted to raise the interest rate for non-resident borrowers from 2 percent to 4 percent. They also changed city policies that would force landlords with multiple properties to fix code violations before getting city loans and grants.

“This is something that was more of an irritation than anything else,” said City Administrator Jim Benentt. “We didn’t like giving money to someone at a low interest rate to fix something up when they weren’t doing the same thing with their other properties.”

Both Lewiston and Auburn get federal grant money geared to affordable housing and economic development, including community development block grants, HOME loans and lead rehabilitation grants. Lewiston makes a portion of the money it receives available to downtown property owners to encourage redevelopment.

Loans and grants from those federal programs are approved by a city Loan Qualification Review Committee. Under the new policy, city staff will review property records of people applying for the loans.

“So, if we have someone with five properties and they want a loan for one of them, we’ll inspect all five of their properties,” said Code Enforcement Director Gil Arsenault. “We won’t commit any funds unless they’re all up to our standards.”

“From a perspective of economic development, it’s a good step,” said Jim Andrews, city Economic and Community Development director. “We’ve talked a lot about wanting to rehabilitate the downtown. This is another tool.”

Policy changes also give Lewiston owners an edge. Owners who live in their properties and live in the poorest parts of the downtown can qualify for a 1 percent loan for up to 20 years. Those living outside of the downtown can qualify for 2 percent loans.

Owners who don’t live in their properties can also qualify for 2 percent loans, while landlords who don’t live in Lewiston can get 4 percent loans.

“We just wanted to use that money to create a little bit of a benefit to help Lewiston residents,” Bennett said. “If they live and work here, they should get some sort of a benefit.”

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