{"id":8234,"date":"2015-11-02T10:52:07","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T15:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/?p=8234"},"modified":"2016-01-21T10:21:32","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T15:21:32","slug":"hogan-administration-announces-600000-partnership-with-garrett-county-for-homeownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/2015\/11\/02\/hogan-administration-announces-600000-partnership-with-garrett-county-for-homeownership\/","title":{"rendered":"Hogan Administration Announces $600,000 Partnership with Garrett County for Homeownership"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_8235\" style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2015\/11\/audience.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8235\" src=\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2015\/11\/audience.jpg\" alt=\"Some residents drove more than 30 miles on Wednesday to get information about a new homeownership partnership between the Hogan administration and the county.\" width=\"275\" height=\"275\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-8235\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some residents drove more than 30 miles on Wednesday to get information about a new homeownership partnership between the Hogan administration and the county.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em><strong>Initiatives announced for homebuyers\u00a0and current owners\u00a0for home improvements<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>McHenry, MD<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Hogan administration and Garrett County Commissioners\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0announced\u00a0<strong>Maryland Pathway to\u00a0Homeownership\u00a0in Garrett County<\/strong>, an upcoming partnership between the administration and the county that will help an estimated three dozen potential\u00a0homebuyers\u00a0purchase a\u00a0home in the county by making down payment and closing costs more affordable.<\/p>\n<p>The department announced programs that offer significant resources for potential homebuyers and current homeowners, including\u00a0$300,000 of down payment assistance from the county and\u00a0$300,000\u00a0committed from the state for down payment assistance, closing costs, and loans and grants for home repair.\u00a0This is believed to be the first such partnership between the county and the state to encourage\u00a0homeownership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA healthy housing market is key to a healthy economy,\u201d Governor Larry Hogan said.\u00a0\u201cWe are proud to partner with Garrett County to not only help homeowners improve their aging homes with upgrades and enhanced efficiency but also encourage new homeowners to plant roots in Garrett County for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<span id=\"more-8701\"><\/span>The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Single Family Housing Program Director Amy\u00a0Grutzner and Garrett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Paul Edwards announced the new partnership\u00a0at the Town of McHenry\u2019s homeowners meeting at Garrett College, which was also attended by staff members from the single family and energy programs.\u00a0Further details will be announced on Nov. 10.<\/p>\n<p>Residents in Garrett County will also find it easier to apply for state grants and low interest loans to make\u00a0much-needed improvements to their homes through housing and community development programs.<\/p>\n<p>The department\u00a0brings the ease of one-stop shopping to help homeowners \u2013 including senior citizens and those with special needs \u2013 invest in improvements that can save money on heating and cooling costs, enhance livability and make repairs to meet building codes for safer and healthier living. The initiative is part of Governor Larry Hogan\u2019s focus on changing Maryland for the better by making government more effective and more accessible, particularly in rural communities.<\/p>\n<p>Attendees learned how the\u00a0loan\u00a0programs can be used to improve the safety, comfort and accessibility of the whole home by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding accessibility features such as hand railings, ramps, grab bars and wider doorways<\/li>\n<li>Correcting building code violations<\/li>\n<li>Installing energy conservation materials and insulation<\/li>\n<li>Installing\u00a0EnergyStar\u00a0appliances and retrofit lighting<\/li>\n<li>Rectifying structural or maintenance issues<\/li>\n<li>Reducing and eliminating lead paint hazards<\/li>\n<li>Repairing or replacing heating and cooling systems<\/li>\n<li>Repairing plumbing and septic systems<\/li>\n<li>Replacing or repairing roofs and porches<\/li>\n<li>Sealing air and whole house envelope<\/li>\n<li>Upgrading energy-efficient appliances<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThese programs are examples of Governor Hogan\u2019s commitment to rural Maryland,\u201d said Secretary Kenneth C. Holt. \u201cEmpowering rural communities is vital to strengthening our local economy and enhancing the quality of life for our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Applications will be accepted until the allocated grants are reserved. To learn more about home improvement loan programs, call\u00a01-301-429-7802\u00a0and for energy efficiency programs, call\u00a01-855-583-8976.<\/p>\n<p>The department\u2019s one-stop shopping approach was first introduced with great success in September before homeowners in Snow Hill on the Eastern Shore.<\/p>\n<p>Visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dhcd.maryland.gov\/\">dhcd.maryland.gov<\/a>\u00a0for additional information on all housing and community development programs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Initiatives announced for homebuyers\u00a0and current owners\u00a0for home improvements McHenry, MD\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Hogan administration and Garrett County Commissioners\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0announced\u00a0Maryland Pathway to\u00a0Homeownership\u00a0in Garrett County, an upcoming partnership between the administration and the county that will help an estimated three dozen potential\u00a0homebuyers\u00a0purchase a\u00a0home in the county by making down payment and closing costs more affordable. The department announced programs<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/2015\/11\/02\/hogan-administration-announces-600000-partnership-with-garrett-county-for-homeownership\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,46,16,23,93],"tags":[94,99,95,133],"class_list":["post-8234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy-efficiency","category-governor-hogan","category-homeownership","category-maryland-mortgage-program","category-special-loans","tag-customer-service","tag-first-time-homebuyers","tag-homeownership","tag-western-maryland"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8234"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8473,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8234\/revisions\/8473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}