The Northern Kentucky HOME Consortium, an inter-city home buyer assistance program, has increased the payout amount of its forgivable loans from $10,000 to $15,000. Qualifying home buyers in the participating cities can get zero interest loans to cover down payment and closing costs for buying a house. A tenth of the loan amount is forgiven for every year the buyer lives in the house.

Covington, Erlanger, Independence, Florence, Ludlow, Dayton, Bellevue and Newport belong to the consortium. The money for the program comes from the federal government, and the City of Covington manages the programs, even for the other cities, as it’s an entitlement that automatically receives a certain amount of federal funding every year.

“The funding gap is real,” said John Hammons, who manages the federal funding for the city of Covington. “Last year buyers needed $14,400, and this year buyers have needed $15,000 … All the costs are up: home prices, mortgage rates, property insurance; everything costs a lot more.”

You can learn about the program, including qualifying information and information on how to apply, as well as information on the city’s home repair assistance program at covingtonky.gov/government/departments/neighborhood-services/federal-grants.

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