Assistance available to property owners
By: John Helgeland 03/01/2009
The City of Minneapolis' Inspection Department recently sent letters to property owners who owned a property with an outstanding repair order from 2008. Inspections sends orders to make exterior repairs as part of the City's responsibility to ensure that the housing stock in the community remains strong. Vu Tran and Angela Hugen, from the City of Minneapolis. explained that the first thing that residents should do is to contact the inspector to make sure that they understand the order and ensure there is no confusion as to the work that must be completed.
Other barriers include people who are unable to complete the repairs on their own or do not know how to complete the repairs in a professional manner. It is also important to remember that failure to make repairs by the due date can results in a monetary fine. To assist individuals who have received such an order, Inspections Department representatives will be available at the North Housing and Home Improvement Fair on Saturday, March 21 at North High School, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. to provide information on resources that may be available to assist them in complying with the order. (www.northhousingfair.com.)
Jenny Camacho from the Housing Resource Center at 44th and Penn spoke to Cleveland Neighborhood residents about their Code Abatement Program. A deferred loan of up to $20,000 is available to address exterior code violations. There are income limitations, but other products are available, such as the Fix-Up Fund that is not deferred. Camacho informed residents that it is important to get the work scheduled to prevent escalation of administrative fines that the City imposes for non-completion. Info: Housing Resource Center, 612-588-3033 or www.housingresourcecenter.org.