NOTES ON OUR FAMILY SELECTION TIMETABLE

Habitat affiliates around the world use the same criteria to select families, but variations in affiliate size and service area mean that each affiliate develops its own process for collecting applications, screening them and then selecting families for Habitat homes.

In Seneca County, we conduct a Family Selection process for each house we build, during the months before work begins on the house. After a site and construction schedule are set, we announce that we will be conducting a family selection and the site where the home will be built. Meetings are held and information is distributed around the county, with a special focus on the community where the house will be built and the local school districts. The selection process is explained at the meetings and families are offered assistance with completing their applications. A deadline for the applications is announced as part of the process.

Since we must comply with federal housing laws which require that all applications be accepted or declined within 30 days of their completion, we only accept applications during the designated application period; any received at any other time would have to be declined since we wouldn’t have an opening for a Partner Family.

When the process is complete, one family is notified they have been accepted. All other applications are declined because we only have one house available at a time. Families not accepted are welcome to apply again for the affiliate’s next project.

Those interested in the next selection process should watch for public notices, or check back with this web site where the information also will be available.

SELECTION GUIDELINES

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian housing ministry financed through private donations and utilizing volunteer labor. Our purpose is to build homes with families and sell the houses at no profit and no interest to families who could not otherwise afford a home.

Please read the following items to see if you have an interest in our ministry and to see if you meet our general guidelines:

1. To qualify for the home, you must have enough income to support the cost of the home but not much more than Habitat’s guideline of 80% of the median income for Seneca County. The amount of income required will depend on the home’s final cost, property taxes, mortgage length and insurance cost and will be estimated for each house. The maximum income is based on 80% of the median income for the county, as determined by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. The chart below shows the amounts for households of various sizes.
2. After receiving your permission, we will verify employment and other income, verify checking and savings account balances, get a statement from your current and previous landlords, have a credit check done, and ask you for credit references.
3. If approved for a Habitat home, we ask that you be willing to join in programs to learn and practice budgeting, home repair, and maintenance.
4. If approved for a Habitat home, each adult (18 years and older) member of your household must work 250 hours of sweat equity on your home and other Habitat projects, with a maximum of 500 hours per family.
5. If approved for a Habitat home, you will be required to save $50 per month from the day of signing the letter of acceptance until the day of closing; savings in excess of $1,000 are optional. These funds will be applied toward closing costs and front-loading escrow.
6. If you are approved for a home and if you meet the sweat equity and savings requirement, the affiliate will sell you a home at cost and provide a no-interest mortgage. Since the house payments are used to build more houses with other families, it is important that the payments are made on time.

If you are interested in Habitat and if you believe you qualify for a home according to the above guidelines, plan to attend our next Family Selection meeting. At that time, the location of the home to be built/rehabilitated will be announced, as will the deadline for application. Assistance with the application process also will be available at that time. When the meeting is scheduled, it will be publicized in the community and on this web site.

The family accepted to receive a house through Habitat must also realize that this is a highly publicized program and their house will be built by the efforts of the community.

All information from the application is confidential, to be used only for family selection. Families not initially accepted may reapply.