Recap: October 22 Housing Working Group Meeting
Topic: Supporting Existing Homeowners
October 22, 2024
Heart of West Lakes Wellness Center
Timothy Ayers (West Lakes Partnership) opened the meeting. Rhae Parkes (EJP Consulting) gave an overview of the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant and presented the data that has been collected that is relevant to supporting existing homeowners and the goals for the discussion (presentation found here).
The City of Orlando reviewed their existing programs that support homeowners:
A representative from the SHIP program which is awarded to cities and municipalities and the City of Orlando is a recipient.
Housing Rehabilitation Program
Must be owner occupied resident, must have homestead, no tax liens, current mortgage statements, utilities must be up to date and income qualify (based on size of family). Cannot have a reverse mortgage on home.
The program offers a loan (a second mortgage) up to $100,000 (based on need and total house value). If it’s less than $15,000 there is not lien on your property and is just a grant. From $15,000-$40,000 is a 10-year grant (if you sell your home in 5 years you would have to pay it back. From $40,000-$100,000 is a 15 year grant. The grants are deferred forgivable so you don’t have to pay it back if you stay in your home that long.
Orlando Solar Co-Op, The City of Orlando is partnering with Solar United Orlando to provide support as City of Orlando residents switch to solar energy in their homes.
The following are highlights from the general discussion:
There is a city program that can help residents who income qualify upgrade their homes to be more energy efficient, and the participant noted that her electric bill has reduced by about $70/month since she did it.
There is a problem with rooming/boarding houses. They are obvious because of the number of cars at night. Absentee landlords are claiming to be living in their homes.
Home insurance is a concern for attracting new and existing homeowners because insurance it too high or not available at all.
Seniors are not receiving the information about available programs and services and therefore are not getting the help that they need.
There is minor flooding from renovation of Lake Lorna Doone Park, Tampa Avenue floods also, and significantly more towards the intersection of Tampa Ave. and Colonial Dr.
Code enforcement has to be called all the time by neighbors. You have to call over and over again and it would be nice if code enforcement happened automatically, if they patrolled the neighborhoods from time to time.
Noise level from Camping World Stadium needs to be addressed, sound barriers would help. A participant shared that they have a broken window from sound.
Need more visible police presence. Undercover is unnecessary, as everyone knows who they are.
The city has neglected this neighborhood and needs to step up and do what’s right, this is golden opportunity to fix everything.
Many of these issues are beyond the City, but many of the issues are County and State issues and they should step up too.
The neighborhoods are not safe for bike riders. There are no bike lanes or bike paths in neighborhood.
The neighborhood is a food desert and there is a need for a real grocery store other than Walmart.
Not safe for pedestrians, there are not enough crosswalks, too many curb cuts, not enough lighting.
Create a partnership with City to help repair roofs, the approval for the roof program requires property insurance, which many can’t afford and their houses have very old roofs and are in need of being replaced.
Senior housing audit, walkthrough to site problems in houses- Fire department provides this
Infrastructure needs improvement. Waste water system is not adequate, needs to be re-piped. Taxes are about to be increased because this work is needed.
Seniors are in need of training on how to transfer property to next generation.
Community Legal Services provides free legal services to residents including heir advise and estate planning. They work with HELP CDC.
There should be a consolidated place where someone can learn about all of these programs . Multi-channel communication is needed (written correspondence, calls, email, etc) and it could be distributed through elected officials and Neighborhood Associations through trusted lines of communication knowing it’s real and can be trusted.
There was a suggestion to put together a consolidated audit in the focus area. Where they would assess the homes in the area to evaluate what repairs are needed all at once.
The City shared that the funding they receive is not enough to cover the amount of work they would like to do.