Guilford County homeowners who’ve been watching their property tax bills climb in recent years may be able to get some of that money back from the county.
Beginning on Sunday, Aug. 16, Guilford County’s Low-Income Homeowner Assistance Grant program will open to all homeowners who meet the program’s income and other eligibility requirements.
The program opened July 15 exclusively to residents 65 and older – giving seniors a 30-day head start. Now the age restriction is going away and any qualifying homeowner can apply.
The Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved the Department of Social Services grant program on March 27 as a way to help lower-income homeowners deal with the rising cost of owning a home. The grants are one-time payments made directly to homeowners.
Perhaps most importantly for anyone who qualifies and plans to apply, this isn’t a program where waiting until the deadline is a good idea. The county says grants will be awarded in the order that complete applications are received and will continue only until the available money runs out.
To qualify, a homeowner’s household income can’t exceed 80 percent of the area median income. That means the maximum income ranges from $53,200 for a one-person household to $100,350 for a household of eight. The limits in between are $60,800 for two people, $68,400 for three, $76,000 for four, $82,100 for five, $88,200 for six and $94,250 for seven.
There are quite a few strings attached. For instance, applicants must own and occupy the Guilford County home as their primary residence and must have owned it for at least five consecutive years. They must also be the person responsible for paying the property taxes.
The home’s total property tax value for the 2025 tax year can’t be more than $250,000.
There also can’t be any outstanding liens, assessments or delinquent Guilford County taxes on the home – and applicants can’t have received assistance from another Guilford County tax assistance program for their 2025 tax bill.
The amount of an individual grant will be based on the difference between the Guilford County property taxes the homeowner paid in 2021 and those paid in 2025.
The grant doesn’t eliminate a homeowner’s obligation to pay the property tax bill. County officials specifically note that the program doesn’t change the requirement that property taxes be paid in full or prevent the Tax Department from collecting delinquent taxes.
Applications will remain open through Saturday, Oct. 31 – assuming the money lasts that long.
Residents can apply online at GuilfordCountyNC.gov/HomeownerAssistance.
Those who prefer to use paper can pick up an application at either Guilford County Department of Social Services office – 1203 Maple St. in Greensboro or 325 E. Russell Ave. in High Point.
Completed applications can also be mailed to Guilford County DSS at P.O. Box 3388, Greensboro, NC 27402, or P.O. Box 1142, High Point, NC 27261.
Online applications must be submitted by midnight Saturday, Oct. 31.
The county’s DSS offices will accept paper applications until 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30. After that, applications can still be placed in the secure drop box outside either DSS office through the Halloween deadline.
More information, including an eligibility quiz, is available at GuilfordCountyNC.gov/HomeownerAssistance. Residents can also email liha@guilfordcountync.gov or call 336-641-6336.
And, since the county is handing out the grants in the order complete applications arrive, qualifying homeowners probably shouldn’t circle Oct. 31 on the calendar as the day to get started on this.
Excluding your home, you have to be virtually bankrupt to get any assistance. I won’t be enough to save you from inflation, taxation, medical care, cost of your auto (if you have one).
Our federal government is inflating us to death (at our own request wanting “free” stuff), and our local govts is taxing us out of our homes into poverty. Death & taxes, which wins first?
Do you have to provided a photo ID card to apply?
That is so .I have been looking over all the debt I owe,and that post made me laugh.Thank you.
Scott can you tell me where this “county homeowner assistance grant” money comes from.
Uh, Rebel, that would be from you and me and other county taxpayers.
Scott I’m sure you could feel the dripping sarcasm in my question.
Yes, I could, but for the sake of other readers I wanted to double check that it wasn’t some sort of federal or state grant. It is of course not.
If it were a federal or state grant, the money would still come from us, the taxpayers.
If I understand the assistance correctly, when you sell your house, Die or move, you will pay back what the county has given you probably with interest. Nothing’s for free.
Will this credit also apply to renters whose rent will increase by that same proportional amount?
Why does the county and city not remove all the biased programs for certain citizens so that all citizens can have lower taxes? As a senior, I have limited resources and I can’t afford floating the boat for illegals, invited homeless and other numerous government grifters. All these fantasy new taxpaying citizens haven’t showed up and probably will not. Pipe dreams don’t pay the bills.
Wow, you got all the BS conservative propaganda talking points all in one sentence, Goebbels would be proud of you.
Notes on your hateful BS:
– Illegals are not an issue in Greensboro…and besides, they don’t collect any public benefits with the exception that their kids are allowed access to public schools
– Homeless people aren’t invited, they naturally accumulate near the services offered by State and Local governments given that most can’t afford to own cars. Ignore the homeless at your peril.
– Calling people in need of Federal, State, or Local benefits grifters is just cruelty masquerading as ‘fiscal responsibility’.
But you be you
Thank you professor! You coninue to be my guiding light!
sellers of stuff going in “pipes” can pay their bills but we have fine southern baptists around who KNOW these sellers are parasites & psychopaths
Tenants do not pay property taxes directly, but the cost is built into their monthly rent as a primary operating expense for the landlord. According to the National Apartment Association, 11 cents of every $1 paid in rent covers property taxes. Of course, it seems that Guilford County renters would pay less than 11centers. Using 10 cents of every dollar paid by a renter for the landlord’s property taxes, $100.00 dollars of $1,000 monthly rental payment goes for property taxes. This translates to $1,200 annually; $2,000 monthly rent is $2,400 annually toward landlord’s property taxes.
Of course, the above is not absolute because there are variables. But given this exercise, it appears clear that renters should be concerned about property tax rates. The higher the property tax rate, the greater the rent increase to cover the landlord’s property taxes.
This information along with the recently received Guilford County tax bills from the county commissioners is a clarion call to Guilford County residents to pressure the Raleigh Legislature to follow the lead of other states and eliminate property taxes in favor of a more equitable way to finance county government.
What do you think is more equitable? They spend, you pay. What system do you think is ‘fairer’? Property taxes are progressive, but all families contribute directly or indirectly. It covers both personal and commercial. Paying taxes stinks, not sure changing the allocation method is the problem as much as the government spending itself.