By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Lower income homeowners can qualify for city help fixing up their homes no matter where they live in Auburn, under a new city loan program.

“The biggest difference is where we can do this,” said Stephen Carr, rehab coordinator for the city’s Community Development Department. “Before, we were required to work downtown, but now we can go anywhere in the city.”

Qualifying homeowners can get a $40,000 interest-free loan repayable over 30 years.

“I’m really hoping that people take advantage of this over the summer, before the fall and energy prices go way up,” Carr said. “This looks like it’s going to be really tough year for that.”

Adopted in April, the loan program has received seven applications for money so far. No money has been loaned, however.

The city has offered rehab help for downtown homes for several years. Using federal grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the money helps low income renters qualify to buy homes and fix them up. Different programs are targeted to help make homes more energy efficient or make emergency repairs.

But those are all targeted to the poorest Auburn neighborhoods – downtown, New Auburn and around Union Street.

The new program moves money for low income rehab projects into the rest of the city. That lets it target multi-unit projects on the outskirts of the downtown as well as single family homes.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a single-family home, something modular or a duplex,” Carr said.

The biggest eligibility hurdle is income. Homeowners cannot make more than 80 percent of the median income. That’s about $40,900 per year for a family of four.

The building can be a single family home, or up to four units. The owner must live in the building and all of the money must be spent on the owner’s dwelling.

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