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Dept of Development


Country United States
State Ohio
City Columbus
Address 50 W Gay St # 3
Phone 614-645-2489
Website https://www.columbus.gov/

Dept of Development Reviews

  • Jan 23, 2017

I received some home repairs from the City of Columbus program it was supposed to be just a “roof repair” for my reinstatement of my homeowner’s insurance. Well, the city program came to inspect my home and said they saw additional work that needed to be done to make my home safe and I said okay these grant programs will do this they said yes.

These grant programs were not supposed to be anything but grants that are not paid back by the homeowners who by the way are considered low income to be able to participate in them, this is what I was told and understood but this is not the truth.

The process was long and stressful and they told me they had to use different grant programs along the way to qualify the work they said that needed to be done and I said okay because they told me they were being paid through these grant programs.

So all the way through the process I was told this was being done under grants for low income people. At the end they had me come to their office which I had never been to before to sign papers for the work that was done.

I usually just signed off for work done at my house. I got upset because they were presenting me at the office with some papers that look like a closing for buying a house I asked them a lot of questions about why and what this meant and they told me this was just a formality and what the grant program they used to cover my repairs.

I told them I never agreed to give anyone rights to my home for any repairs and they kept assuring me that no one was taking my home it was still my home the paperwork was just a formality.

But now it looks like I cannot sell my home unless I pay them back for the so called grant monies they used for the repairs, which they never told me I would have to do until I saw it sometime later after the signing because I believed what they said at the office.

I tried to get help to make sure that this was true made some calls to ask more questions about this online but got nowhere plus I had no money for an attorney's review of the matter (paperwork I signed) mostly after this happened because,

I was so stressed out over the whole process in dealing with the city and its people I did not want to deal with them anymore. They took over a year and a half before anything was done then they did a quick and shabby (certain workers did) job at the end.

My complaint is that I believe they took my house from me for these repairs through these papers and double-talking me and disguised it to me as a grant then the said it is a grant/deferred loan at the end when it was closer to the time to sign off on the project,

which I still was not sure what this meant based on the way they explained it to me, but by this time it was too late I just wanted to be done with the city and its so called programs.

“I signed these papers under duress ,”and I feel they were not upfront with me if so they would have told me when I first applied that I would be signing some loan papers or mortgage papers and I of course would have said NO, that’s okay

I don't want your program help because I had no way to pay them this kind of money back and nor did I want to give them rights to my home at all.

I was not given the opportunity to choose the correct thing because it was hidden from me until after they got me caught up into the whole processing of the work and then at the end these final papers were presented when there was less time for me to look at them and make a good decision going into this,

No one willingly gives away a home they own out-right I paid cash for it and it was a good deal, I am just sick over this, really sick. I would not have went through with this hands down. The way they did this allows the city to take homes from people who they claim to be helping with city program grant money.

If they were really trying to help the homeowner why not provide the homeowner with an attorney to make sure this is what they really want to do upfront and not towards the end of the project.

I would have never agreed to anything knowing they would get part ownership in my home somehow and that is what they have done I believe as I re-read these papers now. I need help I feel like I have lost my home for some repairs they said cost $30,000 dollars. Before this I bought this house for $18,000 cash from a bank sell.

I used my divorce settlement money to do this and fix up the home with a handyman helping me I spent a total of $12,000 after the purchase. I did this to have a place to live so that I would not have to pay rent each month somewhere.

I was hoping to sell this house later and use the proceeds for retirement money now I cannot do this without paying them back a loan I never wanted.

I was working part-time and then I became disabled later and I am also a Veteran. I do not have money for an attorney or I would have hire one at the time, legal aid said they could not help me and I have tried to contact people to ask questions on what I can do to overturn what the city did to me in how they took control over my home.

Can you help me or find someone who can I am just sick about this when I think what they did and how they did it. Contracts are not legal when one person is being dishonest about their real motives for helping you out, this kind of program just sets people up to take their homes from them and their families. Thank you.

I need help I feel like I have lost my home for some repairs they said cost $30,000 dollars. Before this I bought this house for $18,000 cash from a bank sell. I used my divorce settlement money to do this and fix up the home with a handyman helping me I spent a total of $12,000 after the purchase.

I was hoping to sell this house later and use the proceeds for retirement money now I cannot do this without paying them back a loan I never wanted. I was working part-time and then I became disabled later and I am also a Veteran.

I do not have money for an attorney or I would have hire one at the time, legal aid said they could not help me and I have tried to contact people to ask questions on what I can do to overturn what the city did to me in how they took control over my home.

Can you help me or find someone who can I am just sick about this when I think what they did and how they did it. Contracts are not legal when one person is being dishonest about their real motives for helping you out, this kind of program just sets people up to take their homes from them and their families.

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