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NEWS <br />St. Paul’s rental rehab program <br />expands citywide after failing to <br />draw applicants <br />By Frederick Melo | fmelo@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press <br />PUBLISHED: January 30, 2018 at 7:44 am | UPDATED: January 30, 2018 at 8:52 am <br />The St. Paul City Council last year unveiled a $750,000 program to upgrade rental <br />housing in St. Paul’s poorest neighborhoods. <br />Zero-interest loans of up to $30,000 would allow landlords to rehab small, low-grade <br />properties throughout the East Side, Frogtown, the North End and Summit- <br />University. Mailers were sent to 1,500 property owners who met the criteria. <br />Six months later, how the is program faring? Poorly. <br />From August through January, the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority’s <br />Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program drew eight applications. The program has <br />closed on three loans with a fourth in the works, and only two of them for the <br />maximum loan amount of $30,000. <br />None of the four loans, which mostly covered overdue or “deferred” basic <br />maintenance, have resulted in properties moving up a grade within the city’s <br />rankings. <br />Meeting as the HRA, the seven city council members discussed the lackluster <br />results at length last week. <br />Their conclusion? Mend it, don’t end it. <br />Over the objections of council member Dan Bostrom, the council voted 6-1 to <br />continue and expand the pilot program as originally planned. As of Feb. 1, rental <br />rehab loans will now be available citywide. <br />“These people are in business. This is their business,” said Bostrom, before voting <br />against continuing the program. “And we’re subsidizing them. And now we’re not <br />even fixing the worst of the worst. I can’t support it.” <br />City council President Amy Brendmoen, who was chair of the Housing and <br />Redevelopment Authority when the program rolled out, said the city uses low-