$8M in no-interest loans set for low-income homeowners

Mayor Mike Duggan (Photo: Salwan Georges, Special to the Free Press)

Low-income Detroit households and those in neighborhoods with high poverty rates will be eligible for $8 million in no-interest loans for home improvements such as repairing roofs, replacing windows and fixing plumbing, Mayor Mike Duggan announced Tuesday.

The loans are targeted at homeowners who earn up to 80% of a median income of $54,150 for a family of four, or $37,950 for a single person, as well as targeted low-income areas of the city where all homeowners are eligible regardless of income. Duggan said the program will help tackle blight while also giving a loan option to homeowners who want to stay and invest in their houses but can't get traditional financing because the city's property values deteriorated so deeply during the national recession.