Furnace replacement assistance

[IslandTrish]

Hello...We had our home up for sale this past summer, then my husband got a new job that requires us to move from MI to CA. We are in the process of making the move...but since our home didn't sell we had to offer it as a rental. We found tenants right away, and they moved in just last week. My husband has started the new job but they have him temporarily in Virginia until next month when we make the move across the country to CA. I am temporarily staying with my sister in southern MI until my husband comes in Nov. All of which is good, but stressful. THEN, this past weekend the tenants called him to say that the furnace quit working! We were able to get a repair person go out yesterday. He called my husband to tell him that the furnace is not repairable and needs replaced! Then he told us it would cost $8,500!! (The furnace is part of a geothermal heating and cooling system that was installed about 10-15 years before we bought the home, about 5 years ago). The Geothermal repair company doesn't have any kind of payment plan. We are going through a mortgage adjustment with our Mortgage Company...trying to get our monthly mortgage payments down closer to what we are getting in rent. We were without steady income from about April to Sept. We had first applied with our Mortgage Company but were turned down because our debt and bills were higher than our income. THEN that all changed with the new job and the rental income starting this month...but now we have to do the 'process' with them all over again. As you can imagine we're just about to begin to get on our feet financially...BUT we don't have $8,500 for a new furnace. But we have tenants in there and need to have heat for them. We have about 1/4 of that in savings towards our Mortgage payment, which we don't know when, how much, they'll tell us to come up with (with only days notice). IS there ANY assistance at all for getting a furnace replaced in northern Michigan? Any kind of program that helps in 'emergencies' like this? Even if we could get the furnace and be able to pay for it with monthly payments? Thank you so much for any advice, or suggestions. We need to do something ASAP. It's almost November and cold weather is already arriving.

[Admin]

You didn't mention your city/county in Michigan. Find the list of agencies in your local region from the list midway down this page.
http://needhelppayingbills.com/html/mic ... grams.html
Ask the agency about weatherization. This is a federal government program that can help pay for energy improvements and enhancements to homes, and sometimes may include a furnace. It is usually only for low income, and based on your comments seem like your income may not be that low. If weatherization is not an option, ask the local agency about any federal grants or low interest loans for energy improvements. For example I know the government has a grant program for solar panels. Maybe your local agency will know about some for geothermal heating

Hello...We had our home up for sale this past summer, then my husband got a new job that requires us to move from MI to CA. We are in the process of making the move...but since our home didn't sell we had to offer it as a rental. We found tenants right away, and they moved in just last week. My husband has started the new job but they have him temporarily in Virginia until next month when we make the move across the country to CA. I am temporarily staying with my sister in southern MI until my husband comes in Nov. All of which is good, but stressful. THEN, this past weekend the tenants called him to say that the furnace quit working! We were able to get a repair person go out yesterday. He called my husband to tell him that the furnace is not repairable and needs replaced! Then he told us it would cost $8,500!! (The furnace is part of a geothermal heating and cooling system that was installed about 10-15 years before we bought the home, about 5 years ago). The Geothermal repair company doesn't have any kind of payment plan. We are going through a mortgage adjustment with our Mortgage Company...trying to get our monthly mortgage payments down closer to what we are getting in rent. We were without steady income from about April to Sept. We had first applied with our Mortgage Company but were turned down because our debt and bills were higher than our income. THEN that all changed with the new job and the rental income starting this month...but now we have to do the 'process' with them all over again. As you can imagine we're just about to begin to get on our feet financially...BUT we don't have $8,500 for a new furnace. But we have tenants in there and need to have heat for them. We have about 1/4 of that in savings towards our Mortgage payment, which we don't know when, how much, they'll tell us to come up with (with only days notice). IS there ANY assistance at all for getting a furnace replaced in northern Michigan? Any kind of program that helps in 'emergencies' like this? Even if we could get the furnace and be able to pay for it with monthly payments? Thank you so much for any advice, or suggestions. We need to do something ASAP. It's almost November and cold weather is already arriving.

[IslandTrish]

Thank you so much...I did find our county page and was able to get a couple of names and numbers to make calls, so we can at least see if we 'fit the program' and can apply. Even if we can get a 'no interest/low interest' loan for it. We probably DO 'qualify' financially right now...and definitely would have last month...but we'll see. Thanks again!