By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

The Housing Partnership of Chester County (HPCC) held an Open House at 343 South Street in the Borough of Oxford to unveil a dramatic renovation. This is part of the Conservatorship Program under Pennsylvania Act 135, which creates a new home for a qualified buyer. Pennsylvania's Act 135, the Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act, allows certain individuals and organizations to petition the court to become conservators of blighted properties. This act aims to revitalize abandoned and blighted properties by appointing conservators who can rehabilitate and prepare them for sale or for other beneficial uses.

This helps to address the negative impact of abandoned and blighted properties on communities. These negative impacts include increased crime, fire risks, and declining property values.

The conservatorship is created through a legal process where a court appoints a conservator to take control of a blighted property and then oversee its rehabilitation.

Individuals, non-profit organizations, and municipalities can petition for conservatorship.

The property must be abandoned, vacant for at least 12 months and not subject to a pending foreclosure, and blighted, demonstrating conditions that negatively impact the community.

The conservator develops and implements a rehabilitation plan, manages the property, and can be granted the authority to secure financing, obtain permits, and coordinate with stakeholders.

The act outlines how conservators can be compensated for their work, including a fee based on rehabilitation costs or sale proceeds.

Since 1988, the Housing Partnership of Chester County has been providing essentials for successful home ownership to county residents. It is a private, non-profit organization working to improve housing and the quality of life in the surrounding community through effective programs and dedicated staff.

Janet Wagner, the owner of the property next to 343 South Street, approached Oxford Borough Council last year about the property. In answer to her concerns, Borough Council approved the Conservatorship Program, after seeking to contact the owners of the property. Since no owners were interested in the property, it appeared to be one for consideration for the conservatorship process.

The open house showed the beginning stages of the renovation work, including vinyl siding on the outside and extensive work on the inside. Those in attendance were encouraged by the results of the work to this point. The property renovation continues and the house already has a considerably better appearance.

Wagner is among those who is encouraged by the renovation of the home.

“I am encouraged by the work on the property,” Wagner said. “It is also good to know that this property will be available now to a qualified buyer.”

Professional partners who helped HPCC were actually creating a new home for a qualified buyer, stabilizing a neighborhood and setting the stage for the future of home ownership in Chester County.

The HPCC’s First Time Homebuyer Program is intended to assist low-moderate income

individuals and families interested in purchasing a first home in Chester County. The program provides pre-purchase home ownership counseling and a loan for down payment and closing costs to first-time buyers. For information on the First Time Homebuyer Program, call HPCC at 610-518-1522.