Apply to the Homeowner Rehabilitation Loan Program

Step 1.Check your eligibility

• Borrowers/Participants must meet program income guidelines. When determining household income, all household members are counted, regardless of who is determined eligible/qualified for the first mortgage loan. All household income of people  18 years and older, who will reside in the property, must be included.
• Borrowers/Participants must provide documentation of their household income and assets along with other program requirements.
• Homebuyer must not have received assistance from the city of Clearwater in the past unless the assistance has been paid in full, a satisfaction of mortgage executed and recorded in public records or unless there is some form of hardship (divorce, permanent layoff, physical or mental disability, fire, flood or natural disaster or the death of a family member).
• Homebuyer and residents must be a U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.
• Priority will be given to special needs households, essential service personnel, and after those needs are met, households with income not to exceed 120% Area Median Income (AMI).

Step 2.Check the property's eligibility

• The property must be your primary residence and homestead property.
• Single-family residences, villas and townhomes are eligible. Two-four family residences, rental properties, mobile homes, manufactured and trailers and co-ops are not eligible.
• The property must not be subject to overdue mortgage payments, property taxes or judgments of any amount.
• A maximum of two mortgages is allowed.
• There are no outstanding liens or judgments against the property.
• Property insurance (and flood insurance, if required) must be current and remain in effect for the entire loan term.
• The property must be located within city of Clearwater incorporated limits. You can use the Pinellas County Property Appraiser tool to see if the home you’d like to buy is within city of Clearwater limits. The tax code of CW, CWD or CWDO will appear if your property is eligible.

We are unable to offer assistance if:

Check the Address

Step 3.What repairs are eligible

Property owners can have those items fixed that are noted by a property inspector to not meet the city’s Minimum Housing Code, such as a leaking or failed roof system. Priority is given to the following repairs:

• Roof
• Plumbing
• HVAC
• Electric
• ADA Modifications of an immediate nature
  • Funding is made available for owner-occupied rehabilitation assistance to serve persons with special needs as defined in section 420.004 Florida Statutes. These special needs funds must be to serve persons with developmental disabilities as defined in section 393.063, Florida Statutes, with an emphasis on home modifications, including technological enhancements and devices, which will allow homeowners to remain independent in their homes and maintain their homeownership.

The Homeowner Rehabilitation Program may not be used to provide luxury items or any remodeling purely cosmetic in nature. Kitchen upgrades, swimming pools, hot tubs or decorative items will not be considered. All non-health or non-safety related remodeling requests will not be considered.   

Step 4.Complete the application

The subrecipient portal is hosted by Neighborly. Neighborly is accessibly via any internet-enable device, however works best on the Google Chrome browser.

Go to Neighborly

Step 5.Create an account

When you access Neighborly for the first time, you'll need to create your account by clicking on the "Register" link. Choose a username, password and email to receive notifications at. 

For security purposes, you will need to validate your email. Neighborly will send you an email notification, follow the instructions in the email and validate your address. If you do not receive the email within two minutes, check your spam, bulk mail or junk mail folder. If the email appears there, you can right-click on the email to mark it as "Not Junk" or "Not Spam" to ensure you receive all other Neighborly emails.