Fighting "vacant housing crisis" in Utica

[thelma]

Ralph - Someone told me that these Hope homes were suppose to only be rented to people that had to pass income and other criteria set in place by the Hope Program which was to insure that they would take care of these properties.

I was told that if the City did not comply with these criteria and the properties were not taken care of, ALL the money given to the Hope Program would have to be REPAID by the City back to the Hope Program.

Is this true?

When I was talking with the Property Manager at Parkedge Townhouses a few months ago, he told me that Section 8 clients would NO LONGER be eligible to rent these beautiful townhomes because of all the damages that previous Section 8 renters did. (the tenants paying their own rents had to pick of the costs of the damages!).

[bobbbiez]

From what I saw of them recently, they should be torn down.

Pretty sad when this project was suppose to help the lower income families live decently but I guess some people you just can't help. With most it's move in, destroy and then move out or be thrown out. Sorry to say but some need to live here in the woods where the only thing they can affect is the animals.

[denise]

Some people live like pigs; they just can't help themselves.

[bobbbiez]

You are so right Denise.
Whatever happened to, "you don't shit in your own backyard?" Whatever happened to no matter where you lived you took pride in your area?

[Ralph]

thelma said:

Ralph - Someone told me that these Hope homes were suppose to only be rented to people that had to pass income and other criteria set in place by the Hope Program which was to insure that they would take care of these properties.

I was told that if the City did not comply with these criteria and the properties were not taken care of, ALL the money given to the Hope Program would have to be REPAID by the City back to the Hope Program.

Is this true?

No, not really.

The Hope VI rental units are run and managed by the Municipal Housing Authority, the same entity that runs Twin Towers, Adrean Terrace, etc.
While separate from the City, it is still part of it. Much like the Urban Renewal Dept. is "separate" from the City.

Hope VI was the grant program that the Federal Government (HUD) awarded to the MHA/City to build these units.

Yes, there is income criteria etc. for those seeking to rent there (as well as buy), but it is the same as for any other rental units MHA manages. People can care for their places of residence or not, just like any other "housing project".

Hope VI was as much a philosophy as Weed & Seed was. It is believed that lower income people do not deserve to be housed like animals in the old style "projects", and Hope VI was to integrate them into the neighborhoods to build them up as much as the houses were to re-build the neighborhoods.

Done right it is a great program, done wrong and you see the results.

We tried to push for enhanced Codes Enforcement before they started construction. After all, you move new people into the neighborhood and who will they emulate? Those around them of course..........which is exactly what they are doing.

Irregardless, there is no "pay back" of monies if the properties are not kept up to par, they can do what they want. As I pointed out, it still belongs to the "City" in one way shape form or another.

If the project was mismanaged the MHA would be liable to HUD, but I don't see that happening as they built the damn thing.......just didn't do it the way it was originally laid out to the public.

[froggy]

Its too bad the Hope IV project didn't happen the way it was supposed to. I've seen some of those places over the years, especially on Oneida St and they definately change the face of the neighborhood. I don't think there is much doubt the MHA mishandled the whole thing.

One of the shortcomings with it has to do with actually selling the houses to qualified people. What I have come to realize is these are houses geared toward lower income people. And that is great, but.... What was done to help them qualify for mortgages? If not a conventional mortgage, something built into the Hope IV program that would get them financed? From what I could tell and the lack of a lot of homeowners in the Hope VI program, it appears nothing was done to assist buyers. Its too bad. Its fantastic to build all these houses, they look great and show there is some promise for the area. Its a whole different thing when people can't actually buy them. Money in the Hope VI program should have been alloted for home buyer assistance programs to get the people into homes.

[Ralph]

Well there is stuff in place to assist them, not only with acquiring a mortgage, but to help clean up and establish their credit before hand.
Some of them take a couple years to clean up.
There are low interest loans as well as special low interest loans for down payments and closing costs too.

But the overall problem is you are taking people that have no concept of paying a mortgage, taxes, utility bills, etc; nor have never known the concept of caring for and keeping up a home, and sticking them in one.

Good luck with that!

[thelma]

Thanks, Ralph, for answering my questions. Basically, it is too bad that the criteria Froggy mentioned couldn't have been put into place to help low income people qualify for mortgages and "pride of ownership" MIGHT have occurred with some of these Hope homes.

I've walked in the shoes of low income years ago when I was first a Single Parent bringing up 4 children on my own. I would have loved to have some program help me buy my own home.

But, I agree with Bobbbiez, no matter where you live - it is home and should be kept clean and presentable. All it takes is soap and water that anyone can afford; it is very cheap!

But, again, I was brought up in the generation where my parents always preached to me "Soap is cheap; there is no excuse to be dirty"!!!!!!

[bobbbiez]

Right on girlfriend!!!!!

[thelma]

What amazes me the most, Bobbbiez, is that the majority of these people can afford numerous gold chains to wear around their neck, numerous gold earrings in their ears, and when they go to Church on Sunday mornings, they are all decked out in their finest clothes -BUT - where they live is filthy!!!!!!

The price of one gold earrings could buy lots and lots of cleaning items!

[bobbbiez]

Yep, they'll sit on their porches all day with their bros forcing their neighbors to listen to their rap sh-t, but can't bend down to pick up the papers on the ground that they or their kids threw there in the first place.

[frankcor]

The Utica School District was supposed to build a new school in the neighborhood but that never happened either.

[Ralph]

Exactly Frank; same for the community center, economic development on South St., cobblestone paving, yadda, yadda, yadda........

If it was done as planned, it would have been a beautiful thing. But it wasn't.

If all they wanted were "boxes" to put people in, they could have better spent their money on making the whole neighborhood into a trailer park.

As far as the way they keep their homes.......this is where our Neighborhood association came to odds with the Codes Department & MHA.
We advocated for enhanced enforcement, a real effort to get the "bad element & landlords" out of the neighborhood before they even started the Kembleton Project (which was the very beginning of Hope VI). But it didn't go anywhere and trying to pick up the slack after the fact just doesn't cut it.

So in the end as my best friend would have said, "It is what it is."

[frankcor]

The feds held out a bag full of free money. They wrote what they thought they had to in order to get the free money.

Sooner or later, the feds will ask for an accounting. And no one will end up going to jail over it.