janesvillean: Deadbeat, abestee, slumlord all mean the same thing. I am a landlord and i'm also none of these.

If dont understand what I mean. Drive though the forthword and you'll see what I mean. If you dont understand then. Stop reading this article

Living in the Look West neighborhood, I went to the Housing Department for the applications to update my home; and while yes some 0 percent interest loans are available, a person's income has to be VERY low. I could not believe that I, as a young single person with no money to burn, made way too much money to qualify to make improvements to my home. I wish they would raise the income level for those who would qualify...especially as the economy becomes more and more strained!

Jackson, this was not a meeting about the Janesville economy. It was a meeting about what the Fourth Ward and Look West residents and property owners wanted the city to prioritize.
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Opinions, "deadbeat" means not paying. Some of my clients are deadbeats, but as to landlords, I don't know what you mean by that, sorry.
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gmretired, the recent nuisance ordinance should allow the city to address chronic problems more quickly. The council discussed, and rejected for the time being, any proposal to place requirements on landlords such as licensing. (A license could require an absentee landlord to have a local agent.) Beloit does that and it generates revenue for code inspection, but it is also an annual paperwork burden for both landlords and the city. The council felt the nuisance ordinance should be given a chance to work first.
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Dealing with absentee landlords can be very frustrating. We had a situation here in the Fourth Ward last year with a property owner residing in California whose tenants were creating a constant detrimental atmosphere on our block. Several attempts by neighbors to contact him resulted in only one actual conversation that was on the order of "talk to my property manager", but the city does not have records of property managers, and asking the tenants was out of the question. It was only resolved after there were numerous arrests on the property, but not before a lot of us were pretty rattled. That's an extreme example; for the most part they are a problem directly for tenants who need (for example) a porch fixed. There are good tenants in both neighborhoods! It is not a problem that is just one or the other.

Do the landlords even live in the near-by area? Maybe the city should look at a regulation that says the landlord/slumlord must come here and converse with the tennents once a month or every 2 months to see if all is well and if they need upkeep. Someimes the owner/landlord lives in Chicago or other far off places and only care to get the rent and that is it! I knew one who worked at GM and owned places in Chicago and did not care to converse or talk with his tennents at all.

I went to this meeting last night. There are bunch of good people who live in area and attended. They really would like to break the stigma of forthward. The biggest issue was Deadbeat landlords, Junk in people’s yards and lack of home care . Many people do not know that if you live in a property that is run down or you have a deadbeat landlord you can call (608) 755-3065. If you think someone is selling drugs call 755-3100 and talk to the Street crimes unit. Everyone can make deference. If you think I am kidding check out 721 McKinley. That is the wrost house in the forthward

I think Janesville needs to spend its time focusing on how to bring new employers.

Why do they need have a consulted to point out directives that will resolve these problems. Make it very hard for the home owners to rent a house. Then the City needs to take ownership, update, and repair homes. Follow up with selling the homes back to lower income people that make good home owners.

There are a number of federal grant/loan programs as you describe, maresyann. No doubt the housing department will have the application forms. For some of them, though, the city has to actively apply for a portion of the monies allocated, and then they only get it for a particular budgetary period. One outcome of this meeting may be that the city can justify seeking some of that.
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It was a pretty good meeting, considering that each group had to moderate itself without a lot of guidance (my table wasn't very organized, alas). It wasn't clear whether groups were to point to *issues* or *solutions* and so there was a bit of both, in some cases solutions looking for a problem, and in other cases problems that have already begun to be addressed, such as the nuisance ordinance and increased vigilance on crime and code violations. But these were very clearly widely believed to be the biggest issues the neighborhoods face.
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One thing people don't seem to realize is that the people active in this part of the city are just as aware of what's wrong as anyone else. The difference may be mainly in that we see the strengths as well as the weaknesses.

Yes, they are still available. They require that you live within the "target zone". I am not sure, though, where to get the information to apply.

Thanks trehgr...Hopefully the gazette will run a story on that. I think if more people knew about it, it would help...There are things out there to help people but alot of them just don't know about them or where to turn..

The city once also had a program that allowed you to improve the condition of your home while maintaining its historical character and was aimed at the more lower income areas. My husband and I remodeled our home on Pearl Street in 1995 with a grant and a no interest loan. They had guidelines to meet and rules regarding contractors, but we did great things with our home. Are those still available?

It's called the Home Buyer's Workshop. Here's the link. http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/

Click on city government, then the neighborhood services block.

Does anyone know of a program that involves sat. classes that help with purchasing a home..I heard that if you complete the class they give you a grant towards a down payment on a home. $5000.00 I think. Why don't they advertise this and maybe some of these renters down there can buy one of these homes and turn it into something they can be proud of...Cleaning up that part of town...