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Low-interest home loans available for low-income rural Michigan residents

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Winter will be here before we know it, and finding the funds to fix the roof or a broken furnace can be burdensome for some Michigan families. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is reminding low-income homeowners of loans that are still available.

Jason Church is the Acting State Director for USDA Rural Development in Michigan. He said low-income rural Michigan homeowners can apply for a twenty year term loan of up to 20,000 dollars with a fixed 1 percent interest rate.

“Home ownership, in and of itself, helps families and individuals build savings over time and that strengthens those rural communities and helps the many rural businesses that support the local economy that might be installing those new windows or putting on that new roof”.

Church said applicants must have an acceptable credit history, the ability to repay, and live in a rural area.

“Surprisingly enough, we consider most of Michigan rural. So anything north of say St John’s or Mt Pleasant is going to be rural, and much of even lower Michigan is considered rural”.

Church said the only areas not considered rural in Michigan are the larger metropolitan areas like Grand Rapids and Lansing.

On the web:

Link to loan information:

https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-repair-loans-grants