- Federal grants for home repairs permit low income households to obtain the necessary funds to keep their homes in good condition. Such grants give individuals with low incomes to repair their home's heating, electricity services, plumbing, roof, waste disposal and other such structures. The grant imposes no limits to the types of repairs made to a home.
- The federal government imposes limits on the types of applicants who can obtain grants for home repairs. Federal law requires that applicants for these funds must be at least 62 years old, be legally entitled to live in the United States (i.e. U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident), live in a home in a rural area and are unable to repay a Section 502 loan. A Section 502 loan gives low income individuals the money to repair, improve or modernize their home and also to be able to make their home habitable by removing health hazards. Also, the applicant must be defined as "very poor," according to the standards set by the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.
- An applicant seeking to acquire these federal grants should know they are only available within the territories officially owned and controlled by the United States. The federal government lists Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Mariana Islands and the U.S. Pacific Islands as the only territories outside the United States where these grants are available.
- The federal government established two places where an applicant can seek further information on these grants. First, it established Regional Agency Offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Rural Development. These offices are located in counties across the U.S. Second, it established an office for the Department of Agriculture that is in charge of administering the grant. This office is located in Washington, D.C. and it can be contacted at (202) 720-1474.
- The federal grant program limits an applicant to $7,500 for grants for home repairs.
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