Residents turned out to celebrate the completion of renovations to Lindenbrooke Park, in Manchester, along with USDA Rural Development officials, Lindenbrooke Park property managers, congressional staff, and building contractors. The Open House was held at the apartment building on July 17.

Upgrades to the apartment building, which was constructed in 1983, included new roofs and windows, drainage improvements, and important handicap accessibility upgrades to the common area and to an apartment unit.
 
USDA Rural Development State Director Michael W. Aube stated, "USDA Rural Development is pleased to help enhance the quality of life for residents at Lindenbrooke Park, and is committed to providing affordable and quality housing for the people of Maine."
 
Sue Norris, a resident of Lindenbrooke Park who also serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors, spoke at the celebration. "I am very proud of Lindenbrooke Park and very happy to be a resident and a part of the community," said Norris.
 
USDA Rural Development provided a $250,000 Rural Rental Housing Loan and debt deferral of $450,396 through the Multi-Family Housing Revitalization Demonstration Program. Architectural services and construction supervision were provided by AlphaOne of South Portland.  The general contractor was Fortin Construction of Auburn.  Lindenbrooke Park is managed by C&C Realty Management of Augusta.

 

Interested in holding a public event? Contact Emily Cannon at emily.cannon@me.usda.gov for assistance. 

Property managers are no longer required to submit lease termination notices to Rural Development, unless there is a specific situation that they want our staff to be aware of (such as tenants who have received unauthorized subsidy). Staff no longer has to review them for compliance with Rural Development regulations.

Maine Real Estate Managers Association (MREMA) is a valuable resource when updating your AFHMP for advertising and community contacts or to aid in outreach for filling vacancies. 
 
On their website you will find a newly revised contacts list for Maine located at http://www.mrema.org/library.cfm (scroll down to "Other".) The list has almost 700 contacts and is in Excel format to make sorting by agency name, town, county or type of marketing contact an easy task. They have also added codes that will help you in identifying a group that would be most likely to apply.
 
Remember, all projects are required to have a printed or electronic media advertisement at least once a year and each AFMHP should have a minimum of one newspaper or electronic media (including website address) listed. Additionally, community contacts that best represent those least likely to apply in section three need listed as well as groups that are associated with the project type and a group that represents those with a disability. These contacts need to be made at least annually and evidence of contact must to be provided/maintained in your marketing folder.
 
Hopefully you will find this resource valuable in your outreach and marketing activities!

 

Tenants often stop participating in favorite activities because they have had a bad fall or are afraid of falling.  HealthReach RSVP has teamed up with Maine Partnership for Healthy Aging to offer a dynamic falls prevention course called A Matter of Balance.  This program acknowledges the risk of falling but emphasizes practical strategies to reduce this fear, and exercise to increase strength and balance.  Classes are held twice a week for four weeks for two hours.  To learn more about A Matter of Balance, you may contact:  Shari Bowen, RSVP Coordinator, 861-3534 or 800-427-1127, sbowen@mainegeneral.org  Although HealthReach services Franklin, Kennebec, and Somerset Counties, it will provide references for similar services in other counties.

Do you have tenants that knit, sew, or crochet?  HealthReach RSVP is seeking volunteers to join in and craft teddies.  When tragedy strikes at home, whether it is due to homelessness or domestic violence, the children who are involved suffer the most.  Often they need to leave their belongings and all that they know behind.
 

Teddies for Tragedies hopes to alleviate some of the stress that prevails when these catastrophes occur.  Tenants can work from their apartments or in a group.  There is no deadline or quota to the number of teddies a volunteer must produce.  A piece of fabric, a ball of yarn and needles, a few hours spent on a craft could influence a little child for the rest of his or her life. 

To join the Teddy Team, please contact Shari Bowen at 861-3534, or 800-427-1127. Patterns will be sent out upon request.  Teddy donations do not have to be delivered- RSVP will collect and distribute.  For those who want to help, but can't crochet or knit, RSVP has volunteer opportunities in advocacy, mentoring, reading to children, working at a soup kitchen or food pantry, coaching A Matter of Balance, or helping youth and adults make better choices.  

 

Rural Development regulations and the borrower's loan documents require that insurance coverage must be for a term of at least 1 year "with evidence that a full year's premium is paid." Proper monthly funding of the tax and insurance account is the vehicle for having funds available to pay the annual premium when due.
 
We are seeing instances where insurance premiums are being paid quarterly - this is not in accordance with regulations, and this practice must be discontinued by making the annual premium payment when due.

Each borrower/manager should have recently received correspondence regarding the implementation of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for MFH borrowers, managers, and tenants. 

Due to the need to protect privacy data, new account numbers have been provided to all customers, replacing the SSN/TIN as part of the account number.  Therefore, all future correspondence should use the new account number, including MINC transmission files, reserve requests, financial reports, etc.  Basically, any document that requires the case number must reflect the new account number rather than the existing SSN/TIN number you have been using. 

If you have not already accessed your new account number, you may do so via MINC.  We have attached two sample memos that are being used to notify borrowers and managers of the change.  Attachment A is a copy of the email notification that the MINC users should have received.  Attachment B is a copy of the memo that CSC sent to borrowers/management agents who do not currently use MINC.  Also attached is a copy of the unnumbered letter that explains this implementation in further detail.