Current Home Repair Programs

ORHA's Current Home Repair Programs

If you’re looking for more general information about ORHA’s home repair programs, click here. 

ORHA uses a variety of grants to provide our no-cost housing rehabilitation and repairs to qualifying Otsego County homeowners. The types of grants we have been awarded change over time. On this page, you can see what programs we are currently administering and find out how to reach out to us about applying.

If you would like to learn more about our programs or need assistance, give our main office a call at (607) 286-7244.

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Current Income Limits

Each of our programs is limited to households whose annual income is no more than a certain amount, but the income limits are different between programs. This chart lists the limits relevant to our current programs.

Check the description of the program you are interested in to see which limit you should be looking at.

For more information on these limits, visit HUD’s website.

Family Size 80% AMI 100% AMI 120% AMI
1
$45,750
$60,500
$72,600
2
$52,250
$69,100
$82,900
3
$58,800
$77,800
$93,300
4
$65,300
$86,400
$103,680
5
$70,550
$93,300
$112,000
6
$75,750
$100,200
$120,300
7
$81,000
$107,100
$128,600
8
$86,200
$114,000
$136,900

Last updated: 2/6/2024

RESTORE Program

The Residential Emergency Services to Offer (Home) Repairs to the Elderly (RESTORE) program funds emergency health and safety repairs for senior homeowners. Repairs address urgent heating, plumbing, septic, electrical, and accessibility issues, with the goal of helping Otsego County’s seniors age in place safely and with dignity. Many of the clients we serve with this program are referred to us by agencies such as the Office for the Aging, but seniors in need of help are welcome to reach out to us themselves as well.

Who is Eligible?

  • Ages 60+

    You must be 60 years of age or older.

  • Own & Occupy Home

    You must own your home, and it must be your permanent residence. Your name must be on the deed.
    Exception: We can still assist you if you own a mobile home and rent space in a park!

  • Income Eligible

    You must have a household income that is not more than 100% of the area median income for your household size.

  • Taxes & Insurance

    You must be current on all real estate taxes and maintain acceptable homeowners' insurance.

  • Urgent Safety Repairs Only

    RESTORE can only pay for repairs that will eliminate hazardous conditions in the home that threaten the health and safety of the elderly occupants.This can include accessibility modifications that are needed to make a home safe for a senior whose needs have changed.

Other Requirements

  • Continued Residency: 3 Years

    The home must continue to be your permanent residence for 3 years. You may not sell, move, lease, demolish, or materially alter the property without ORHA's prior written consent. You will be required to pay back some or all of the money we spent at your home if you do not meet this requirement.

  • Maintain the Home

    You must maintain the home in good operating condition for 3 years.

  • Property Maintenance Declaration

    All owners of the property (including life tenants and remaindermen) must sign a Property Maintenance Declaration (PMD) that will be filed with the Otsego County Clerk's office. This PMD is similar to a lien on the property, but no payment is ever needed from you as long as you follow the program's requirements.

Access to Home Program

The Access to Home Program funds accessibility modifications for low-income people with disabilities. Modifications adapt recipients’ primary residences to enable them to live safely and comfortably at home.

Who is Eligible?

  • People With Disabilities

    You (or your child) must have a documented physical disability.

  • Occupy Home

    The home must be your primary, permanent residence. You do not have to own your home. If you live in a rental home, you must have the property owner's consent and they must not be obligated by law to provide the needed modifications. If the home is in a multi-unit building, modifications can only be made in your unit or in common areas you use.

  • Income Eligible

    You must have a household income that is not more than 80% of the area median income for your household size.
    Note: If you are a veteran who receives disability payments for a disability incurred in time of war, your income can be up to 120% of the area median income.

  • Taxes & Insurance

    The property owner must be current on all real estate taxes and maintain property insurance.

  • Accessibility Modifications Only

    Access to Home can only pay for accessibility modifications to your home. Modifications must address a substantial limitation caused by a physical disability or improve your ability to complete your daily living tasks within the dwelling. Access to Home cannot pay for any general repairs to your home.

  • No Safety Hazards

    We cannot use Access to Home funds in homes that have other health and safety hazards. If ORHA has additional funding available, we will refer you to one of our other programs as appropriate before we can move forward with Access to Home.

Other Requirements

  • Continued Residency: 3 Years

    The home must continue to be your primary, permanent residence for 3 years. You may not sell, move, lease, demolish, or materially alter the property without ORHA's prior written consent. You will be required to pay back some or all of the money we spent at your home if you do not meet this requirement.

  • Maintain the Home

    You and/or the property owner must maintain the home in good operating condition for 3 years.

  • Homeowners: Property Maintenance Declaration

    If you are a homeowner, all owners of the property (including life tenants and remaindermen) must sign a Property Maintenance Declaration (PMD) that will be filed with the Otsego County Clerk's office. This PMD is similar to a lien on the property, but no payment is ever needed from you as long as you follow the program's requirements.

  • Renters: Owner/Participant Agreement

    If you rent your home, the owner must sign an Owner/Participant Agreement that will list the proposed scope of work and the program requirements. They agree to maintain the property for 3 years and that they cannot remove or alter modifications without prior approval from ORHA. This agreement also requires them to consult ORHA if you move within the 3-year regulatory period for help marketing the home to another qualified tenant. If they rent to someone who isn't qualified for Access to Home, where practicable, they must allow ORHA to recoup any movable structures.

Mobile & Manufactured Home Replacement (MMHR)

The MMHR program funds the complete replacement of dilapidated mobile homes for low-income homeowners who own both the home and the land it is on. (Unfortunately, we cannot serve you with this program if you pay for space in a mobile home park.) Please note that due to the high costs associated with this program, we can only serve a very limited number of households.

Who is Eligible?

  • Own & Occupy Manufactured Home

    You must own your manufactured/mobile home and the land it is on. It must be your permanent residence. Your name must be on the deed.

  • Income Eligible

    You must have a household income that is not more than 80% of the area median income for your household size.

  • Taxes & Insurance

    The property owner must be current on all real estate taxes and maintain property insurance. Note: If you have been denied homeowners insurance due the condition/age of your home, we may still be able to assist you. You would be required to secure a binder for insurance on the replacement home.

  • Demolishable Home

    Your current home will be demolished and disposed of, and you will not be able to keep it. Your home must be free of any liens or other encumbrances that would prevent us from fully demolishing it.

  • Long-Term Affordability

    Replacing your old home with a brand new manufactured home may result in high ownership costs, due to potential increases in property taxes or homeowners insurance premiums. Before we can assist you, we must be sure that you will be able to afford these higher costs.

  • Feasibility

    We have a strict cap on how much we can spend on one replacement, including the cost of the home, site work, temporary relocation and storage, etc. We must be able to do the entire replacement within our budget.

Other Requirements

  • Continued Residency: 10 Years

    The home must continue to be your primary, permanent residence for 10 years. You may not sell, move, lease, demolish, or materially alter the property without ORHA's prior written consent. You will be required to pay back some or all of the money we spent at your home if you do not meet this requirement.

  • Maintain the Home

    You and/or the property owner must maintain the home in good operating condition for 10 years.

  • Note & Mortgage

    All owners of the property (including life tenants and remaindermen) must sign a Note & Mortgage (N&M) that will be filed with the Otsego County Clerk's office. The N&M represents a 10-year declining balance lien on the property. No interest or payments will be required as long as you continue to meet the residency and maintenance requirements.

  • Refinancing Restrictions

    The Note & Mortgage must be subordinated if you wish to refinance an existing mortgage on your property. You should know that the Housing Trust Fund Corporation (the New York State agency that finances the MMHR program) only subordinates in very specific situations. We will discuss this with you when you apply.

How Do I Get Help?

The first step in our process is to collect some basic information from you to determine if you’re likely to eligible for any of our programs. You can call us to complete this on the phone with an ORHA staff member, or you can download it here to complete it yourself, then mail or email it back to us.

Download our Intake Screening Form

Once we have your intake information, we look it over to see if you meet the basic requirements, like age or income level, and if the type of assistance you need is something we can do with our programs. We might set up a time to visit your home and see your concerns ourselves at this point.

If you seem likely to qualify, you’ll go on our list of folks to begin the full qualification process with. Please be aware that we receive many requests for help, so we might not be able to start this process with you immediately. Instead, we will reach out for more information once you come to the top of our list.

If, based on your intake information, we don’t think you would qualify for any of our current programs, we can continue to keep your information on file. We use this information to support our funding applications (by showing that there are people who need our help), and we also review these files when we receive new funding for programs you might qualify for.

Contact Us

Want to discuss our home repair and rehabilitation programs or submit your intake information? We’d be glad to hear from you!

Mail

P.O. Box 189
Milford, NY 13807

Phone

(607) 286-7244
Monday through Friday

E-mail

orha@otsegoruralhousing.org

Otsego Rural Housing Assistance

Otsego Rural Housing Assistance, Inc. proudly provides and preserves affordable housing in Otsego County, NY.

Donate
Main Office
P.O. Box 189
Milford, NY 13807

(607) 286-7244

orha@otsegoruralhousing.org

Rental Assistance Office

140 County Hwy 33W, Box 4
Cooperstown, NY 13326

(607) 547-8839

hcv@otsegoruralhousing.org

Quick Links

About Us

Rental Assistance

Home Repair & Rehabilitation

Resources

Contact

Otsego Rural Housing Assistance

Otsego Rural Housing Assistance, Inc. proudly provides and preserves affordable housing in Otsego County, NY.

Donate
Quick Links

About Us

Rental Assistance

Home Repair & Rehabilitation

Resources

Contact

Main Office
P.O. Box 189
Milford, NY 13807

(607) 286-7244

orha@otsegoruralhousing.org

Rental Assistance Office

140 County Hwy 33W, Box 4
Cooperstown, NY 13326

(607) 547-8839

hcv@otsegoruralhousing.org

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