Home at last Family buys house in Eddington with help from Section 8 and a lot of determination

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Two years ago, Mary Richardson, a single mother of five, was unemployed, broke and homeless. On Monday, July 19, she signed mortgage papers and now owns her own home in Eddington.

Hard work, determination and a little help from a new homeownership program instituted by the Brewer Housing Authority led to the turnaround in her life, the new homeowner said.

“I’ve had this goal to own my own home for 15 years,” Richardson said recently. “I wanted to own before my 35th birthday, and that’s in September.”

BHA’s low-income housing program, the first of its kind in the area, will be used to help five families find subsidized homes by the end of next year, according to housing officials.

Richardson’s two oldest children, Kaylin, 16, and Alicia, 14, already had seen the house, but Ryan, 11, Codi, 8, and Madison, 2, got their first look after Monday’s signing.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Alicia said. “Once I get my furniture in my room, it will be better.”

Richardson, who works at a local service agency, said she spent months searching for a home that was large enough for her family as well as affordable. She said she fell in love with the first home she looked at and ended up buying it after reviewing several others in the area.

After the signing last week, her youngsters ran around the house and explored all the nooks and crannies, trying to decide how they were going to set up their rooms and talking about how big the house was compared to the apartment they shared in Bangor.

The new homeowner had a weary smile on her face after sleeping only two hours the night before. Richardson said she was so worried that something would go wrong at the closing that she couldn’t sleep.

“You know what’s weird? I don’t have to tell [my daughter Madison] not to run because of the downstairs neighbors,” she said while sitting in her new living room.

Ryan said the best thing about his new home is the “working toilets.”

Richardson’s home is a full-sized, Cape-style house with four bedrooms, built in 1978. The home has a full basement, is situated on 2 acres and cost Richardson $141,000. With the subsidy, her house payment is around $500 a month. Part of the sales agreement called for the former owner to leave behind the curtains.

“[My daughter] doesn’t have any curtain where she is living now,” the homeowner’s mom, Kathleen Richardson, said while checking out the house for the first time.

Richardson’s parents, Kathleen and Paul, traveled up from Massachusetts to be with their daughter during the closing. Paul Richardson, a licensed electrician, wore his work belt to the new home and helped fix an electrical problem in the heating system.

Richardson moved to Maine six years ago. When she found herself homeless in July 1992, she and her five children entered Park Woods, a two-year transitional housing program owned and operated by the city of Bangor.

Richardson’s rent was subsidized at Park Woods through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program, formally known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which assists low-income participants with housing costs. Those subsidies will continue for Richardson, but now they will be applied toward her home payment.

Housing authorities across the country were encouraged to develop programs to help low-income people purchase homes under the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, also known as the Public Housing Reform Act.

Brewer Housing Authority did just that and created the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Homeowner Program.

Richardson is the first to sign on the dotted line for a new home under the pilot program.

“The program is really a regional effort,” said Robert Cross, area specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

The USDA Rural Development issued Richardson her loan, which does have a recapture clause. It requires Richardson to pay back the USDA for any subsidized interest, if she chooses to sell the home.

“What Rural Development does is we have programs for low- and very low-income families,” Cross said. “The mortgage is directly through the government. We work as the bank. As long as the individual falls under 80 percent of the area median [income], that allows us to finance 100 percent [of the loan] and subsidize the interest rate, which can be as low as 1 percent.”

In the last two years, USDA Rural Development has helped 140 families with direct loans. Median incomes are based on the participant’s community. Through the Brewer Housing Authority, a family of four is allowed to make up to $26,300, and an individual can make up to $18,400 and still qualify. There also are exemptions for participants who are elderly or who are disabled.

To qualify for the program, Richardson had to take the Homebuyer Education class through Penquis CAP. The two-day program gave her the tools to balance her budget and find a solid home and also taught her about the types of financing available.She also enrolled and was approved for a down-payment assistance grant through Mainestream Finance, a subsidiary of Penquis CAP Inc. The program is available to low-income families, but is subject to availability of funds.

“Penquis CAP is giving me a $12,000 grant, which is called soft money, and if I live in the dwelling for five consecutive years, it’s forgiven,” Richardson said.

To get involved in the local homeownership program, participants must have good standing for at least one year with their Section 8 program, must have a full-time job and must take care of any outstanding credit problems.

The Richardson family’s furniture, clothes, household items and stuffed animals will be moved into the new home this week. Some minor painting and repairs still need to be done before the family can move in.

Kathleen Richardson said her daughter kept the new home a secret until she was close to signing.

“I am just so proud of her,” the mother said. “She didn’t tell us until just recently. She’s been working on this for a year.”

Now that she’s in her new home, Richardson said she’s still having a hard time believing she’s a homeowner.

“I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real,” she said. “I’m overwhelmed, excited and nervous. It’s going to be nice to not pay someone else’s bill. I just wish I was a magician and could get everything moved in and have everything done.”