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For Immediate Release

Nonprofits Urged To Apply To The Small Rental Property Program

BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 13, 2007 – Yesterday, The Road Home announced theopening of Round 1 of the Small Rental Property program to nonprofit organizations offering 20 years of affordable housing. Two weeks ago, the program opened to small-scale property owners and received a high level of response. Program officials are hopeful that the Small Rental Property program will attract an equal amount of response from the nonprofit sector.

The program sets aside 5 percent of its Round 1 funds -- approximately $10 million -- for nonprofits in an effort to encourage the creation of long-term affordable housing for returning displaced residents. In order to receive these set-aside funds, nonprofit organizations must agree to offer 20 years of affordable rents on these properties. By targeting nonprofit organizations, particularly those offering special needs and supportive housing units, The Road Home is restoring quality rental properties in the most storm damaged areas.

All nonprofit organizations, even those formed since Hurricane Katrina or Rita, are eligible to apply for this additional funding set-aside for properties they currently own. Special to the nonprofit set-aside funding, nonprofits who purchased properties after the hurricanes are also eligible. Properties are limited to no more than four rental units, must have suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina or Rita, and be located in one of the 13 eligible parishes.  In addition, properties must have utilities available to the site and have been vacant since the storms.

To encourage the development of mixed-income properties and special needs or permanent supportive housing units, the program will prioritize these nonprofit applicants in the set-aside. In addition, these projects will receive a 15 percent funding bonus for choosing to restore properties with these units.

Through a series of competitive application rounds, The Road Home Small Rental
Propertyprogram will provide incentives to property owners as forgivable loans, so long as nonprofit organizations must agree to offer 20 years of affordable rents on these properties. Nonprofits interested in providing affordable housing for up to 10 years should apply outside this funding set-aside in the general program for all property owners. 

Applications for the Round 1 nonprofit set-aside of funding are now available. This first round for nonprofit organizations will remain open and accept applications until March 22, 2007. The small-scale and owner-occupant application became available on Jan. 29, and The Road Home will be accepting those applications until March 15, 2007.

Applications can be requested by calling 1.888.ROAD.2.LA or by visiting www.road2LA.org/rental.  Completed applications should be mailed to P.O. Box 4729, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4729. If any organization is unable to complete an application in time for the Round 1 deadline, then they are encouraged to apply in a later application round. There will be multiple rounds of funding, with Round 2 slated to open in late April.

The Road Home program is designed to help Louisiana residents affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita get back into their homes as quickly and fairly as possible. Working together, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the Office of Community Development and the Louisiana Legislature created The Small Rental Property program. The program, designed for one- to four-unit rental properties, provides incentives to owners offering affordable work force rental housing for returning residents. 

For more information on The Small Rental Property program or to request an application, visit www.road2LA.org/rental or call 1.888.ROAD.2.LA (1.888.762.3252). TTY callers use 711 relay or 1.800.846.5277.

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