The Home Improvement Program was created as Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing learned of the barriers facing mobile home owners to access financial assistance to make the necessary repairs to their aging homes. The program began as a collaboration with Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing, River Valley Credit Union (RVCU) and Tri-Park Cooperative and funded, in part, by a generous grant from the Thompson Trust.
The HIP is designed to offer mobile home owners low-interest loans of up to $3000, to make their home more habitable, energy efficient, code-compliant or saleable. The River Valley Credit Union makes the low interest loans directly with the homeowner and BAAH guarantees the loans.
Prospective borrowers contact BAAH directly to initiate interest in the program. BAAH reviews the program details, discusses the project, and starts the intake process. Estimates are collected and BAAH provides a simple contract to be signed by the homeowner and contractor. A loan application is completed and submitted to RVCU. If the loan is approved, the loan is written with a 4.5% interest rate, for a term up to three years.
In the initial stages of the program, BAAH realized that some homeowners did not qualify for the RVCU loan, despite their significant need for repairs. To address this issue, BAAH set aside separate funding so grants could be available in crisis repair situations.
If you’re in need of repairs to your home, please contact BAAH, Home Improvement Program at 802-246-2224 #2.
