SCHENECTADY COUNTY Agency to match down payment Program helps disabled, caregivers become homeowners BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.
The state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities is trying to make home ownership easier in Schenectady County for people with disabilities and for staff who care for them. The state office is offering to match up to four times the amount of money people set aside for a down payment toward a home. The program, made possible through a $1 million federal grant, targets income-eligible individuals, their parents or legal guardians and direct support employees working in a state-run or voluntary agency. For a single-person household, the income level cannot exceed $20,420. For a family of four, the limit is $41,300. The New York State Individual Development Account Program will serve a total of 360 individuals, families and households in 12 counties, including Schenectady. Approximately one-third of the slots are reserved for the Capital Region. Under the program, the state will provide up to $4,000 maximum for individuals and up to $8,000 maximum for families in matching funds. “These funds can also be used to cover home buyer costs such as home appraisals or application fees,” said Nicole Weinstein, OMRDD spokeswoman. The IDA program is for fi rsttime home buyers, Weinstein said. “We want to encourage individuals and families to purchase their own homes,” she said. “This program helps them save to do that. It allows individuals and their families to get out into the community.” The other counties eligible for the program are Albany, Rensselaer, Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Monroe, Chemung, Steuben, Onondaga, Oneida and Oswego. Once in the program, a person must wait a minimum of six months before making a withdrawal, with the typical savings plan ranging from 12 to 36 months, Weinstein said. Participants must purchase a home before December 2013. Participants will also have to take classes on homeownership, mortgage delinquency and foreclosure prevention; predatory lending; identity theft; financial literacy; credit counseling and credit repair and asset-specific training. For more information, contact Lucinda Grant-Griffin in the Offi ce of Housing Initiatives and Supports at 473-1973.
I am all for helping the disabled. And I am not singling that group out...the government has already done a great job of that. My point is that there are plenty of people who fall into the same median income range they have stated in the post above and not EVERYONE is being considered. Only the disabled. Again, a fine job by the government to victimize and segregate certain groups of people.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
First off----those who consider themselves NOT in the disabled category, went out and 'over purchased', and these folks were even edumacated.....someone please help me here.....owning a home is not the only American dream----and if anything it is a priviledge and serious responsibility.....there has got to be alot missing from this story.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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