Courtney: HUD Money Preserved, Still Hope For Foundation Relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said there is still hope for a federal relief source for homeowners with crumbling foundations with $3 billion in block grant money included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, an omnibus spending measure that funds the federal government for the remainder of FY2017.

The spending plan passed Wednesday by a vote of 309-118.

Early budget indications from the White House had put the block grant, administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, in peril, Courtney had said.

“While this should have been finalized last year, I am pleased that members from both sides of the aisle finally came together to pass a fair and bipartisan spending bill to close out the fiscal year,” Courtney said. “The bill that passed today is good news for Connecticut’s defense industry and our economy as a whole. Additionally, despite the Trump administration’s directives to cut funding for domestic priorities ... Republicans joined with Democrats in rejecting those harmful cuts. There is little doubt that many of the domestic priorities that Americans rely on will come under attack again during future budget negations with the White House, but I hope the bipartisan framework passed in the House today can serve as a model as we begin to get a very late start on the 2018 budget.”

The budget includes $85 million in advanced procurement funding for Virginia-class submarines produced at Electric Boat. Courtney also praised the Community Development Block Grant receiving level funding of $3 billion.

"This program, as well as the Home Investment Partnerships Program (level funded at $950 million), have been targeted as possible sources of federal funding for remediation of crumbling foundations in Connecticut," Courtney said.

Cracks have been located in hundreds of homes throughout parts of eastern and north central Connecticut and the problem has been traced to a bad batch poured by the J.J. Mottes Company in the 1980s or 1990s, state officials said.

The state Department of Consumer Protection has a Web page designed to assist those affected.

Courtney said he had reached out to HUD officials "as part of an effort to identify federal resources for homeowners struggling with crumbling foundations." Courtney said he received a letter from HUD outlining two possible sources of existing annual federal grant funding "that could be used for municipal housing rehabilitation programs."

The letter, Courtney said, explains that funds from the Small Cities section of the HUD-funded Community Development Block Grant Program and the Home Investment Partnerships Program, which are administered by the Connecticut Department of Housing, could be used to support housing rehabilitation programs to assist residents with crumbling foundations.

Click here to see the letter from HUD regarding Small Cities CDGB funding from HUD.

Patch File Photo