Income-eligible Eagleville residents have until June 15 to apply for federal grant funds to repair their homes.

The city has more than $400,000 left in its $500,000 three-year HOME grant, which ends on June 30, 2009. The goal of the program is to help maintain decent, safe and affordable housing, according to Cindy Raymond, housing coordinator with the Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC), which assists with the program.

The HOME program is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Housing Development Agency through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

To qualify for funding, residents must own their home or have a 99-year lease on it and must have lived in it at least one year.

They also must have a total income of less than $34,500 a year for a one-person household. The income limit increases for each additional person in a household.

The cap on annual income for a two-person household is $39,450; for a three person, $44,350; for a four-person, $49,300; for a five-person, $53,250, and on up.

The HOME funds are available to pay for work needed to rehabilitate a home to bring it up to accepted housing standards or codes. If the program administrators determine the home cannot be rehabilitated for $25,000 or less, they could offer to rebuild the home.

Raymond said the home does not have to be paid for to qualify but the agency would have to work with the mortgage company if the recommendation is to rebuild the home.

Those who receive a grant for rehabilitation will get the money free as long as they do not sell the improved home for at least five years after the work is done.

Those whose home is rebuilt will also get the money free as long as they do not sell the house for 15 years. If the home is sold sooner than 15 years after the construction is completed, the homeowner will have to pay back a portion of the grant funds depending on the years remaining in the agreement.

Raymond said that about $60,000 has been allocated so far in Eagleville for work on two homes in this grant period, and she has received one other application.

Application forms for the HOME program are available at Eagleville City Hall during normal business hours through City Recorder Colleen Adams.

Adams urges those interested in the program to not assume they do not qualify for it.

"If they are unsure, they should come in anyway and we will figure it out," she said. "If you think you are in the ballpark, you need to come in."

Those making application for the grants will need to submit proof of ownership of their home in the form of a warranty deed or a 99-year lease.

They will also be required to submit a copy of either a paycheck stub or a benefit check and a copy of their most recent tax return unless they no longer file taxes because they are exempt. Plus they must submit a copy of their property tax receipts.

The Eagleville City Hall is located at 126 S. Main St., and the telephone number is 274-6992. Cindy Raymond of GNRC can be reached at (615) 862-8847.