Who We Serve

Eligible clients must:

• Be a resident of Mahoning County, Ohio, and own your own single-family home.  You must be the owner of record. We verify home ownership with the Mahoning County Real Estate Database. 
• Meet Income Eligibility requirements - see below
• You must have owned and lived in your home for 12 consecutive months.
• If there is another name on the title, in addition to the applicant's, we will count that person's income, in addition to the income of anyone staying at, or living in the home at the time we do the verification.
• All utilities must be on-- we need them to do our work.  The only exception is when water service has been stopped because of a broken water line which we are there to repair.
• Real estate taxes must be paid or there must be a payment plan in place.
• If you are buying your house through land contract you are NOT eligible for our services.

Income eligibility

• Income of ALL household residents is counted.
• The applicant must have an income, and provide IHMS with proofs of that income from the income provider (employer, Social Security, pension, etc.) We do not accept IRS Form W-2's as proofs of income.
• Income must be at, or below, 35% of the median income.

As of May, 2010, the following are the income guidelines for IHMS services.  These amounts are set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and are revised each year.  When calculating income include ALL INCOME from ALL SOURCES   for ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE STAYING IN THE HOUSE, before taxes.