Not really complicated, just takes some effort and initiative from those in charge.

Reading emails involving funding for the new school shows that the selectmen can and did got to extraordinary lengths to make something happen, so why not do the same for some residents?


from the link posted by justsmartenough;

Deferred Payment Loans: Most programs place conditions on grants or offer them as forgivable or “deferred-payment” loans (DPLs). A property lien in the amount of the DPL is placed on the property for a specified number of years (15 year minimum.) However, a DPL becomes a grant if it is not sold or transferred within a specified period of time and if all other program requirements are met (e.g., rental agreement). If the lien conditions are violated, the borrower (i.e., the property owner) is subject to specified penalties -- generally, foreclosure on the loan amount. DPLs may take the form of interest subsidies or principle reduction grants to leverage other funds, or they may provide the full amount of rehabilitation costs up to a program’s established maximum limit. A property owner receiving a DPL would not have to make any loan repayments and the full amount of the loan would be forgiven if he/she still lived in the assisted property at the end of a specified number of years. If the property was sold before the end of this specified lien period, then the full amount or a portion of the amount would have to be repaid. This is the program design most widely used in the Mass. CDBG Program.
How can assisted properties be protected from speculation? CDBG-assisted housing rehabilitation programs must include in their design an anti-speculation / recapture /
forgiveness policy to protect against real estate speculation. (This is a required component of the program application. Refer to Mass. CDF/ME Application Guidance, page 25 for instructions.) Most communities impose a time limit in the form of a lien (15 year minimum is required) on the property that restricts the sale or transfer of ownership. Full or partial funds are recaptured (i.e., recovered) by the community if a property is sold or transferred before the expiration of the lien. All contractual agreements executed between communities and individual property owners must include anti-speculation and recapture provisions that are triggered in the event of (a) sale or transfer of the assisted property, (b) noncompliance by the property owner with the terms of the rental agreement, and (c) noncompliance with other provisions of the contract. a. Mass. CDBG recommends that the time limitations in a recapture policy be appropriate to the level of investment of public funds, the financial condition of participating property owners, and the nature of the rehabilitation work. Many municipalities waive the recapture of funds if the transfer of property is from one family member to another (e.g., parent to child or sibling to sibling) and the new occupant family (a) resides in the property, (b) is income eligible, and (c) assumes the balance of the years remaining on the lien. However, Mass. CDBG requires that assisted units be made affordable to low- and moderate-income households for a minimum of fifteen (15) years. b. The recapture policy must include a description of the community’s procedures for compliance monitoring and the corrective action(s) that will be required of violators. Liens and mortgages are two legal means employed by housing rehabilitation programs to enforce and protect the terms of recapture policies. Mortgages are generally used with funding mechanisms that require monthly payments by owner. In such instances, the banking institution and/or the municipality assume responsibility for filing, tracking, and clearing the mortgage. Consequently, the community must establish a system for filing, tracking, and discharging the liens and for filing, tracking, and clearing the mortgages.

Perhaps justsmartenough can provide the link to the Town's policy on this issue?

The issue that was before the selectmen could have been dealt with in a way to aid the two people that were before them (BOS), if the selectmen wished to help.