In March 1995, with the revision of Title V, many Bay Staters found themselves faced with a bill of anywhere between a couple of thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars to bring their septic systems into compliance with the stricter guidelines.

 The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) enacted the requirements in order to limit soil and water pollution.  The regulations require people selling their homes to have their septic systems inspected, and to fix or replace systems that fail.  Until now people have had to resort to conventional equity loans with market or sometimes higher-than-market interest rates.

 Thanks to a partnership of the Department of Revenue, the DEP and the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), as well as participating private lenders, homeowners with failed septic systems are now able to finance upgrading or replacement through a new, low-interest loan program called the Homeowner Septic Repair Loan Program.

 Announced in July of 1997, the program offers loans that range from a minimum of $1,000 to a maximum of $25,000 at interest rates of 0 percent, 3 percent and 5 percent, depending on income.  The program requirements are as follows:  the borrower must be an owner-occupant of either a condominium or a one- to four- family home whose income does not exceed program income limits.  Borrowers must meet the particular lender’s internal credit guidelines.

 There are currently 26 participating lenders throughout the state, according to Stephen Valley of the MHFA.  The MHFA- approved lenders are spread out all over Massachusetts, from Cambridge to Greenfield, New Bedford and Cape Cod.

 “This loan is definitely less cumbersome,” said Ann Marie Stanley, assistant vice president for consumer lending at the Wakefield branch of The Savings Bank, a participating lender.  “It’s more similar to a mortgage than a consumer loan in complexity.”

 However, because of the nature of the project, other documentation is required, and involves a lot of work on the part of the consumer.

 The additional documentation includes a Sewage Disposal System Construction Permit, and Sewage Disposal System Inspection Form (through the local board of health); a contract with a firm price through a Massachusetts-licensed contractor; and a Certificate of Compliance by the local board of health upon completion.

 “There was a lot of running around.” Salvatore Savinelli, an Andover homeowner whose septic system was replaced recently, “but our daughter helped us.”  Savinelli, 90, and his wife, Elizabeth, 80, have lived in their home on Salem Street for 45 years.  They had been very conscientious about maintaining the septic system, having it pumped yearly for the last two decades.  But recently an environmental engineer told them they would need to replace it.  “We love this house, and want to stay for a long time,” said Elizabeth Savinelli, “but we are getting on in years, and know eventually the time will come when we have to sell.”

 When the Savinellis learned about the Homeowner Septic Repair Loan Program they jumped at the chance.  Stanley, their loan representative at The Savings Bank, mailed them a packet, as she does with all prospective borrowers, explaining the program.  “It’s my job to educate people,” she said.