Santa Maria’s housing support programs provide a range of services including assistance to tenants with rental problems, home purchasing, improving housing conditions, and home improvement projects.
Helps tenants improve housing conditions including rental issues, problem properties, and absentee landlords. Santa Maria also works toward increasing homeownership, helping elderly/disabled/low-income homeowners with home improvement projects and advocates for demolishing vacant blighted properties. Our affordable housing specialists also meet with individuals on a one-on-one basis to provide tenant/landlord advocacy, eviction counseling and help in finding affordable housing. Communication with landlords is stressed to optimize outcomes. We also help organize tenant groups, resident associations, and landlord forums.
Read Ann Holloway's Story
Ann Holloway moved into an apartment building in Price Hill and soon discovered that her kitchen ceiling had a small leak. Requests for her landlord to fix the leak were ignored and the small leak grew into a much bigger problem. Not sure how to get her landlord to make the repair, Ann called Santa Maria. Our Housing Advocates met with Ann and helped her write a letter to her landlord asking for the repairs to be made within 48 hours. We explained that if the landlord didn’t comply, Ann would call the Health Department and put her rent into escrow. Needless to say, the repairs were made within 48 hours!
For more information about Affordable Housing Support please contact:
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Provides assistance to tenants and homeowners including foreclosure prevention, education and counseling, and emergency mortgage assistance. Homeowners in East Price Hill, Lower Price Hill and Sedamsville have benefited from our foreclosure prevention outreach. Through various partnerships we have helped to save many families from foreclosures. Since foreclosure threatens not only a family's stability but the stability of the entire neighborhood, we consider this one of our most important endeavors
For more information about Foreclosure Prevention Assistance please contact:
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 Provides Tenant Education Class for families and individuals who want to learn the skills they need to find and retain housing. This is a one-day course that covers a wide range of topics including: tracking your spending, developing a budget, the rental application process, home care, leases, security deposit, evictions, and communication with neighbors and landlords. An attorney from Legal Aid Society is on-site to teach several of the lessons and answer questions. At the end of the course participants receive a certificate of completion that they can present when applying
for housing.
Read Sandy and Jeff Clayton's Story
Sandy and Jeff Clayton both work long hours and bring home a paycheck every two weeks. Still, they were struggling to pay their bills and had been given an eviction notice from their landlord. Santa Maria enrolled them in a Tenant Education Class where they learned how to budget for their expenses. They discussed ways to reduce expenses to make sure that their rent could be paid on time each month. Santa Maria also helped Sandy and Jeff work out a payment plan for the balance of their rent. After the class, Sandy and Jeff said that their eyes had been opened—never before had they considered analyzing their income and expenses and planning ahead.
For more information about Housing Education please contact:
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 Assists families in purchasing homes
built specifically for the program at a lower cost through down payment and mortgage assistance programs. Santa Maria works with the Homeownership Center of Cincinnati to help residents build wealth and home ownership in Lower Price Hill. In Lower Price Hill we have partnered with Model Group and the Greater Cincinnati Homeownership Society on the Lower Price Hill Homeownership Initiative, which aims to increase the neighborhood's percentage of owner-occupied housing. There are five new homes being built on State Avenue available for buyers at or below 80% of the Area Median Income. Santa Maria has resources and incentives for neighborhood residents making the transition from renters to homeowners.
Read Shirley and Carl's Story
Shirley and Carl have lived in Lower Price Hill for twenty years and raised their four children in a home they’ve been renting since they moved here. Both are very active in the community. When Shirley discovered that they could own a home for less than they are paying each month in rent, she signed up for a homebuyer training class right away. Shirley and Carl are saving for their down payment and are excited about the prospect of owning a home for the first time!
For more information about Lower Price Hill Homeownership Project please contact:
You can stop by to see us at the Lower Price Hill office (718 State Avenue, Cincinnati OH 45204) during walk-in hours, Monday - Friday, 10 am - noon or 2 pm - 5 pm.
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