[StBernard] STATE'S SMALL RENTAL PROPERTY PROGRAM AWARDS $202 MILLION TO RESTORE AFFORDABLE RENTAL PROPERTIES

[Westley Annis]

STATE'S SMALL RENTAL PROPERTY PROGRAM AWARDS $202 MILLION TO RESTORE AFFORDABLE RENTAL PROPERTIES 

BATON ROUGE, La., April 19, 2007 - More than $202 million in federal funds will be awarded to help restore more than 5,200 rental units in 13 of the most damaged parishes in South Louisiana, the Louisiana Division of Administration's Office of Community Development (OCD) and the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) announced today. Of those, 4,075 units will rent at affordable rates for low- to moderate income level working families. The other units will be occupied by owner-occupants in small rental properties and market rate tenants in mixed income buildings. 

"Restoring rental properties is an essential part of restoring our communities," Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said. "I insisted that Louisiana's small rental program be crafted to ensure affordable units will be available to all our citizens at all income levels who are ready to return home. Some four thousand units will soon be ready for low and moderate income families and special needs citizens as a result of our efforts." 

The Road Home Small Rental Property program received over 6,500 applications at the close of Round 1, and state officials announced an estimated 2,693 small rental property owners will receive awards. Funding is strictly targeted to one to four unit rental properties that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina or Rita. 

"This program was designed to help the mom and pop landlords preserve their investments and offer safe, comfortable and affordable homes to families trying to come home," said LRA Housing Task Force Chairman Walter Leger. "It was also important to us that the program give highest priority to properties with owner occupants and landlords that are Louisiana residents. These small property owners have always played a valuable role in the vitality of our neighborhoods and we want to get them all the help they need to get back in business."

"Round 1 was a great starting point for the program. We received an overwhelming number of requests for information and applications," stated OCD Rental Program Manager, Calvin Parker. "We are excited that so many property owners in Louisiana are interested in our program. The program can't work unless it works for them." 

The rental program has set aside five percent of funds from the first round, or approximately $10 million, specifically for the nonprofit organizations with an emphasis on providing housing to people with special needs.

"Local nonprofit organizations are also benefiting from the program. 80 nonprofit applications were conditionally awarded incentives to fund 174 rental units in the most heavily damaged areas," said Senator Derrick Shepherd. "This includes people with disabilities, homeless families, the elderly, persons with special needs and/or "at risk" youth." 

Program officials mailed the first batch of conditional letters out last week to owner-occupants of three and four unit buildings - the program's highest priority. The Road Home will continue mailing award letters to all other applicants. 

Conditional Awards are the first step in the process of getting funding to eligible owners. All awardees will receive a packet of information about bringing their properties back on line and the requirements of the program. Applicants will be asked to affirm the statements they made in their original application and provide supporting documentation in those instances where it is necessary. 

Once applicants have returned their packages and a federally mandated environmental review has been performed, they will receive a firm funding commitment from the State. Owners who need to secure construction financing will be able to use the program's final commitment to help them get a bank loan. Others may be able to complete any outstanding work on their own. The final award will be disbursed once the State confirms that the property meets the Louisiana Building Code and an eligible tenant has been identified. 

The program will also be mailing "Deferral Letters" to those applicants that were not selected for Round 1 but may be eligible for future rounds. These applicants are strongly encouraged to reapply. Applicants who failed to meet the program's basic requirements - such as being a Louisiana resident - will receive a denial letter. 

Round 2 will open in May and accept applications for 30 days. Criteria for the round, being developed by the OCD and LRA, will be announced later this month. 

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