More than 20 people attended the recent Maui County Permitting Open House. Representatives from the county Water, Fire, Public Works, Planning and Environmental Management departments were present to try to resolve residents’ building permit concerns.

WAILUKU – The County of Maui is commencing with its fourth year of funding for its First-Time Home Buyer’s Grant Program.

The program was established to assist low-to-moderate income first-time homebuyers with down payment and/or closing cost assistance.

The county’s Housing Division will administer the program. Applicants will be selected through a lottery drawing process.

Applications are available at the Housing Division Administration office at 35 Lunalilo St., Suite 102, in Wailuku. Those unable to pick up an application may call 270-7351 or mail a written request to the office to receive an application by mail.

A credit pre-approval (not pre-qualification) letter from a mortgage lender that is authorized to do business in Hawaii must be turned in with the completed application. The credit pre-approval letter must be for the applicants listed on the application. No application will be accepted without the pre-approval letter.

The deadline to return the completed application and credit pre-approval letter to the Housing Division Administration office is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 3.

The lottery drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cameron Center auditorium at 95 Mahalani St. in Wailuku.

All of the applications will be drawn at the lottery. The first 13 applications drawn will be notified in writing that they must complete and sign a formal application and submit it with signed tax returns for the last three years. The formal application and tax returns must be returned within ten days of the date of the letter.

The remaining applicants will be alternates prioritized in the order that their applications were drawn should any of the first 13 applicants fail to meet their obligations or grant qualification criteria.

Program assistance will be made available to eligible applicants in the form of a grant for eligible properties within the County of Maui.

The maximum grant amount is $15,000.

Eligible properties include the following: a) Single-family detached dwelling; b) Multifamily dwelling; c) Residential lot with plans to construct a single-family detached dwelling; d) Homestead leasehold property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL).

Grants will be secured by a lien document in favor of the county and shall have a term of 15 years from the date of purchase (except DHHL leasehold properties).

Grants must be repaid if one of the following events occurs during the 15-year term: grantee refinances the first mortgage loan and takes cash out, grantee no longer uses the property as the borrower’s principle residence, or borrower sells the property.

For more information, call Buddy Almeida of the Housing Division Administration at 270-5746.