New Governmental Loan Program for Small Landlords in Philly May Come in Handy During Covid-19

Written by: Natalie Klyashtorny


The City of Philadelphia and the Impact Loan Fund have launched a pilot program to provide financing for small landlords to make repairs and renovations to improve apartments for affordable rentals.

In exchange, the landlord must agree to maintain affordable rental rates for 10 years, meet fair housing guidelines, and permit periodic inspections by the City’s Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) during the term of the loan. 

All tenants in properties receiving repairs funded by the loan must have household incomes of 100% or less of the area median income and 1/3 of the tenants must have household incomes of 50% or less of area median income. 

In order to qualify, the landlord must be current on real estate taxes and have insurance to cover the properties.  If the properties have any outstanding violations issued by L&I, the loan proceeds must be utilized to cure them and the properties must then undergo a successful inspection by L&I after the repairs are completed, as well as be able to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy and a Rental License issued by L&I after the repairs are completed.

The landlord must also have 15% minimum equity in the properties and the cashflow from estimated rental rates to cover debt service at 1.15x-1.25x. 

This governmental loan program provides for a 3-month draw period to complete the improvements and funds are disbursed only as work is completed.

If you have a question about this new loan program, please feel free to contact us at contact@nochumson.com and an attorney at Nochumson P.C. will immediately reach out to you to schedule a free consultation.