City Offers Home Repair Programs, Simplified Application Process

As warm weather arrives and home repair season begins, the City of Sioux Falls is encouraging qualified residents to consider applying for its housing repair and rehabilitation programs. Plus, starting in early June, the Housing division is adding an online option to apply for housing programs.

The City’s Housing division offers four primary programs that provide financial assistance directly to low- and moderate-income households to support repairs and replacements for single-family, rental, and mobile home properties and down payment assistance to public safety employees. Program funding can help pay for repairs or replacements like plumbing, heating/cooling systems, electrical work, roofs, windows and screens, insulation and winterization, handicap accessibility, and necessary painting. In 2022, these programs supported 134 households in Sioux Falls.

“Our role as the City of Sioux Falls is to maximize federal, state, and local dollars and one-time funding opportunities to ensure residents have safe, affordable, and sanitary housing,” said Logan Penfield, the City’s Housing Development Manager. “We reinvest and leverage funding in many ways and work with community partners to address residents’ housing needs. The Housing division’s core programs highlight our efforts to keep people in their homes, maintain the current housing stock to a safe and sanitary level, and reinvest into our city’s core neighborhoods.”

The Housing division will be adding an online application option to the Housing division’s webpage on www.siouxfalls.org. Currently, individuals must submit applications in person or via mail.

“Adding an online application option has been a priority for our team, as it will streamline efficiencies for us and improve the application experience overall,” Penfield said. “Our team has a hands-on approach to helping applicants through this process, and we will continue that going forward, even with the application moving online.”

City of Sioux Falls—Housing Division Programs

Single-Family Rehabilitation Program:

• Provides financial assistance for homeowners to repair or replace plumbing, heating/cooling systems, electrical work, worn or leaking roofs, windows and screens, insulation and winterization, handicap accessibility, necessary painting, and sidewalks.
• Depending on household income, the program is offered either via deferred loan or grant.
  • For the deferred loan, the gross household income must not exceed 80 percent of the Median Family Income (MFI), and mortgage payments, taxes, and insurance must be current. The deferred loan is due upon the home’s sale or loan recipients moving out of the home. The deferred loan has zero interest.
  • In 2023, 80 percent of the MFI is $72,550 for a family of four.
  • For the grant option, the gross household income must not exceed 65 percent of the MFI. Grants are limited to $5,000 per household and are not required to be paid back. This assistance option, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, is limited, and will end on December 31, 2024, or when all funds have been obligated to homeowners.
  • In 2023, 65 percent of the MFI is $58,950 for a family of four.

Rental Rehabilitation Program:

• Provides owner(s) of registered rental property low-interest loans for materials used in exterior and interior rehabilitation.
• Eligible exterior work includes roofing, doors, windows, porches, steps/stairs, gutters and downspouts, siding, paint, foundation repair, and driveway approaches.
• Eligible interior work includes paint, wall repair, floor coverings, cabinetry, and insulation.
• Work requiring licensed contractors including plumbing, mechanical, and electrical also qualify.
• Rental property owners can apply for an up to eight-year, low-interest loan. The first six months, the interest rate is zero; month seven and beyond, the loan’s interest rate is 3 percent.

Mobile Home Repair Program:

• Provides financial assistance to residents who own a mobile home within Sioux Falls city limits.
• Offers up to $5,000 to any one mobile home during its lifetime for exterior and interior work that keeps the mobile home in decent, safe, and sanitary conditions.
• Applicants are income restricted to 80 percent Area Median Income (AMI), which is $72,550 annual income for a family of four.
• The loan is forgiven after the applicant occupies the mobile home for one year after project completion.

Public Safety Down Payment Assistance Program:

• Aids in providing home ownership opportunities for police officers, firefighters, and other public safety employees.
• Applicants can receive up to $20,000 or 20 percent of the purchase price (whichever is less) toward purchasing a home via a deferred/forgivable loan.
• The property must have a purchase price at or below the South Dakota first-time homebuyer purchase limits, which was $340,000 in 2022.
• Properties eligible for this program must also be in specific Sioux Falls neighborhoods that are qualified census tracts and socially vulnerable areas.
• All properties purchased via this program are subject to recapture provisions if the property is sold within five years from the home’s purchase date.

Supporting documents and requirements for application vary by program. Individuals who believe they may qualify should visit www.siouxfalls.org/housing or call 605-367-8180 for details.