SB 1179

This bill directs the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to establish a home repair program for the following purposes:

1. To ensure that residential housing units are fit for human habitation; free from defective conditions or health and safety hazards, including asbestos, mold, pests, and lead; and free from conditions preventing the installation of measures to improve energy or water efficiency and lower utility costs.

2. To implement energy efficiency measures.

3. To make residential housing units accessible for individuals with disabilities.

The bill requires WHEDA to award grants, not to exceed $25,000 per residential housing unit, to homeowners with annual household incomes of less than 100 percent of the area median income, and interest-free loans, not to exceed $25,000 per residential housing unit, to landlords that, in a landlord’s capacity as a landlord, have an ownership stake in no more than five properties and no more than 15 residential housing units, which the landlord rents for use as affordable housing. In the bill, “affordable housing” is defined in part as housing for occupancy by individuals whose annual household income does not exceed 100 percent of the area median income. Under the bill, WHEDA must prioritize awarding grants to homeowners with disabilities and homeowners with children five years of age or younger, and WHEDA may not award a grant or loan for a residential housing unit that was constructed more than 40 years nor less than 10 years before the homeowner or landlord applied for the grant or loan.

Under the bill, if a homeowner sells a residential housing unit within four years after receiving a grant under the bill, the homeowner is immediately liable to WHEDA for a portion of the grant amount. If a landlord sells a residential housing unit within four years after receiving a loan under the bill, the landlord is immediately liable to WHEDA for the unpaid remainder of the loan amount.

WHEDA may contract with a county or a nonprofit organization to administer the program in the bill and must provide annual reports to the Joint Committee on Finance and relevant standing committees of the legislature on certain information about the program.

The program created under the bill is funded by a portion of the amount transmitted to this state by counties in this state from the real estate transfer fee collected from the conveyance of real property from one person to another.