Two of Toledo’s most prominent housing problems are a low homeownership rate and older properties that are falling apart.
A pair of new programs set up by the Fair Housing Center and the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union aim to help address both those issues — particularly in the city’s urban core neighborhoods hit especially hard by the foreclosure crisis.
In a city that is now majority renters, one of the programs is a down-payment assistance program. It offers up to a $5,000 grant to help first-time buyers who make up to 85 percent of the area’s median income and live in an area of the city where a majority of residents are from a minority group, said Suzette Cowell, the credit union’s CEO.
Ms. Cowell said she hopes the down-payment grants give a boost to prospective buyers in a time of high interest rates and inflation.
“It’s getting ready to be springtime, which is when people are looking for houses,” she said.
The second program provides up to $10,000 low-interest loans for contractors doing various types of home repair work in central city neighborhoods. The idea, Ms. Cowell said, is to help small business owners pay for expensive supplies that they need for a job, well before they collect their final payment from the homeowner.