P age A4
N ovember 22, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
orttani»
bseruer
$8.5 Million Awarded For
Affordable Housing
The Oregon Housing and
Community Services Department
has awarded over S8.5 million in
grants and tax incentives to 37
a ffo rd a b le housing projects
throughout Oregon. “Quality af
fordable housing is a critical need
for many Oregonians, including
children,"Governor Barbara Rob
erts said, “These grants will help
low income families, farmworkers,
victims of domestic violence, the
elderly and disabled to secure safe
and affordable housing.”
T hese aw ard s are the re su lt
o f the Fall 1994 C o n so lid a te d
F u n d in g C ycle th ro u g h w hich the
D e p a rtm e n t o ffe rs a f f o r d a b le
h o u sin g d e v e lo p e rs one a p p lic a
tio n to access m u ltip le funding
p ro g ram s. T his F u n d in g C ycle
in clu d ed g ran ts from the O reg o n
H o u s in g
T ru st
Fund
of
$ 1 ,259,352, O regon L en d ers Tax
C re d its (O L T C ) fo r $3,5 5 2 ,1 7 1
in lo an s, In tern al R evenue S e r
v ice (IR S ) Low Incom e H ou sin g
T ax
C r e d its
(L 1 H T C ) o f
$ 2 ,3 6 8 ,8 8 4 , H ou sin g and U rban
D e v e lo p m e n t ( H U D ) H O M E
fund g ran ts o f $ 2 ,5 8 8 ,6 0 9 , and
H U D H E L P P rogram gran ts o f
$ 1 7 0 ,0 0 0 .
T o tal sp ending on affo rd a b le
h o u sin g m ade p o ssib le by these
g ra n ts is n e a rly $ 9 3 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 .
L ev erage from the O reg o n H o u s
ing T ru st Fund w as o v er 2 7 :1 .
At its m onthly m eetin g , the
S tate H ousing C o uncil ap p ro v ed
th e larg er g ra n ts and co n c u rre d
w ith the D e p a rtm e n t’s re c o m
m e n d a tio n fo r a w a rd s fo r the
b a la n c e o f the p ro je c ts. “ T here
w ere m any d e se rv in g p ro je c ts
w hich a p p lied fo r fu n d in g ,” said
H ou sin g C o uncil C hairm an Russ
D ale. ” 1 w ish we had the re so u rc
es to fund them all. T hese p rojects
have a great im pact on the a f
fo rd ab le h o using need in O re
gon” .
As in the past, this funding cycle
was heavily oversubscribed. Appli
cations were reviewed by separate
teams within the department for fi
nancial feasibility, sponsor capacity,
services offered, community support,
and need for the units. “1 am proud of
the Department for the work that
PDC Contracts With Business
Alliance To Aid Business Districts
Seeking to bolster Portland’s
business districts, the Portland De
velopment Commission has entered
into a contract with the Alliance o f
Portland Neighborhood Business
Associations (APNBA) to provide
professional technical assistance to
neighborhood business associa
tions.
The $30,000 contract will help
Portland’s business associations in
many fields, including association
organizing, management, strategic
planning, resource development and
business district revitalization plan
ning.
“ With this contract, neighbor
hood business groups will gam er
some o f the sophisticated planning
and management tools needed to
thrive in today’s competitive mar
ket place,” said Roger Jones, the
A PNBA’s President.
“Business districts are the back
bone o f our local economy,” said
Mark Clemons, PD C’s Director o f
Economic Development. “The city
will enjoy a stronger, job-creating
economy if we have top quality
business associations to serve small
and large employers.”
went into evaluating the applica
tions,” said Baruti Artharee, depart
ment Director, “The process was fair
and objective, and the best possible
projects were funded.”
T he m oney w ill be used for
new con stru ctio n , acquisition and
re h a b ilita tio n by C om m unity D e
v e lo p m e n t C o r p o r a tio n s , fo r-
pro fit d e v e lo p e rs, and h o u sing
a u th o ritie s. T he p ro je c ts serve a
variety o f sp e c ia l needs gro u p s,
in clu d in g low incom e w orking
fa m ilie s, e ld e rly and d isa b le d
perso n s, farm w orkers, victim s o f
dom estic v io le n c e , and hom eless
persons.
The Department holds two Con
solidated Funding Cycles each year,
in the Spring and Fall. Oregon Hous
ing and Community Services De
partment is the state housing finance
agency, providing financial and pro
gram support to create and preserve
opportunities for quality, affordable
housing for low income Oregonians.
The Department also administers
federal and state anti-poverty, home
less and energy assistance communi
ty service programs.
In specific, the c o n tra c t calls
for the APNBA to:
• publish a R esource G uide for
business associations, providing
a single-source reference for re
sources available for healthy and
effective associations;
• publish new sletters that provide
needed information about success
ful business district operations and
relevant business news;
• help no few er th an six business
associations with grants to im
prove business districts, with a
focus on Bureau o f Housing and
C o m m u n ity
D e v e lo p m e n t
(BHCD) initiative grants in BHCD
eligible areas;
• help organize no few er than three
business d istric ts in areas o f Port
land currently lacking a business
association; and,
• p re p a re a Business D istrict Re
vitalization R ep o rt to identify
costs and benefits o f solutions to at
least five issues facing business
districts citywide.
PDC is part o f an “ad hoc” team
o f city agencies that worked with
Portland’s 40- d 1 us business associa
tions. Joining PDC on the city team
are the Bureau o f Planning, the Bu
reau o f Housing and Community
D evelopm ent and the O ffice o f
Neighborhood Associations. PDC
is the city’s agency for Economic
Development.
Under the contract, local busi
ness associations many use APNBA
assistance to apply for grants to fi
nance district improvements such as
organizing businesses into a new
association, planning physical or
marketing improvements for an area,
or improving the marketing or phys
ical qualities o f the area.
A pplications for grants are
available through PDC and are due
by December 1,1994. The city team
will award the grants by the last day
o f the year. The grant program was
established by the ad hoc city team
and is funded by $20,000 from the
city General Fund.
The APNBA is a coalition of
most o f Portland’s business associ
ations, formed last year to assist
local business groups. Another aim
o f the contract is the APNBA is to
help the young organization become
an effective force for enhancing busi
ness district health in the city.
Broad-Based 97 Percent Mortgage, Lowering Down Payment
Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE)
announced it will greatly
expand the availability of low
down payment loans as well as
help more low- and moderate-
income people nationwide to
qualify for a mortgage.
“We are introducing products
and additional risk management tools
to address the need for low down
payment lending in a comprehensive
and coordinated way,” said Fannie
Mae Chairman and C hief Executive
Officer James A. Johnson. “Consis
tent with the principles o f risk shar
ing, targeted lending, and expanding
opportunities, today we further ad
dress the two major obstacles faced
by first-time home buyers: a lack o f
savings and a modest income.”
To address potential home buy
ers" lack o f accumulated funds. Fan
nie Mae announced "Fannie 97,” a
mortgage offered through the com
pany’s Community Home Buyer’s
program (CHBP) that will allow low-
and moderate-income borrowers to
HAP Receives
Funding Good
News For Two
Resident-
Based
Programs
With news o f full funding for
a fifth year, the Housing Authority
o f Portland (HAP) celebrates the
success o f its Drug Elimination
Grant Program. The one-year grant
totals over $668,500, awarded
from the Department o f Housing
and Urban development (HUD).
The funding amount is $131,300
higher than the 1994 grant o f
537,200.
Augmenting the HUD mon
ies will be m atching funds o f
$ 1 2 5 ,1 6 7 from th e H o u sin g
A ughority, M ultnom ah County
S h e riffs Department and other
local support agencies making the
total program funding $793,667.
“Over the past five years, HA P
staff have made major efforts to
provide support services to resi
dents that will enable them to live
safer, more productive lives,” said
Denny West, HAP Executive Di
rector. “The Drug Elimination Pro
gram funds give us the chance to
improve what we are already do
ing and the extra money allows us
to rerr\ove even more o f the barri
ers that hinder people in being self
sufficient. The yough Sports pro
gram activities help young people
to team to live and grow as healthy,
educated citizens, free o f alcohol
and other drug dependencies
make a 3 percent down payment. The
company said its first-year goal for
this product would be $5 billion.
To address potential home buy
ers’ modest incomes, the company
also announced the “ Start-Up M ort
gage” - a 30-year, fixed-rate mort
gage offering consumers a first-year
monthly payment that is lower than a
standard fixed-rate loan - tftqt will
increase the number o f people able to
qualify for this mortgage.
Johnson emphasized that Fan
nie M ae’s expansion o f low down
payment loan products - known in
the industry as high LTV (loan-to-
value) lending -- is targeted specifi
cally at home buyers with household
incomes o f up to 100 percent o f their
area’s median (with exceptions in
designated higher cost areas), and
who are otherw ise economically qual
ified to own but lack enough savings
for a larger down pay ment.
“Our 97 percent LTV mortgage
addresses the single biggest problem
first-time home buyers consistently
identify: having enough money for
the down payment. We will work
with approved seller/servicers who
offer Fannie M ae's Com m unity
Home Buyer’s Program to make this
important product widely available,”
Johnson said.
“We also know there are poten
tial home buyers who are good credit
risks, who have some funds accumu
lated for a down payment, but whose
incomes keep them just out of reach
o f homeownership. For these con
sumers, the Start-Up Mortgage, with
its interest-only payment in the first
year and 5 percent down payment,
allows them to qualify with lower
payments and still have the benefit o f
a fixed-rate mortgage,” Johnson said.
As part o f Fannie M ae’s com
prehensive strategy to expand the
availability o f low down payment
loans, the company said it will re
quire a modest amount o f additional
mortgage insurance on loans with
down payments less than 15 percent.
This additional mortgage insurance
would match mortgage insurance lev
els previously announced by Freddie
Mac. The estimated increase -- $9
per month — wi 11 not affect a consum
er’s ability to qualify for a mortgage,
but will expand the com pany's abil
ity to offer more consum er’s ability
to qualify for a mortgage, but will
expand the com pany’s ability to of
fer more consumers with lower in
comes access to higher LTV loans.
For example, Fannie Mae esti
mated that more than 50,000 fami
lies could take advantage o f the Fan
nie 97 in its first year - a significant
expansion o f its commitment to low
down payment lending.
“Sharing the risk is the key both
to maximizing homeownership op
portunities and minimizing the risks
for len d ers and h o m e o w n e rs,”
Johnson said. “The net result for
consumers is a wide-range o f low
down payment loans that otherwise
would not be available. For many,
the Fannie 97 will provide their only
opportunity to buy a home.”
“ However, we intend to monitor
carefully the performance o f the Fan
nie 97. Ifover time, the performance
o f this product warrants changes to
safeguard the company against in
creased credit risk, we will make
them,” Johnson said.
On October 11, in a speech at the
Mortgage Bankers Association con
vention in Boston, Johnson outlined
principles that would guide the com
pany in its approach to expanded
high LTV lending. Today, Johnson
said, “Our new initiatives are based
on a sound analysis o f how Fannie
Mae and the mortgage industry can
expand access to families that need
help buying a home.
Fannie Mae will begin marketing
the Fannie 97 and the Start-Up Mort
gage immediately to its approved Com-
r
H. Frnncene Grewe
Branch Manager
Sales Representative
Norwest Mortgage. Inc
825 NE Multnomahf
Portland. OR 97211
Office 503-235-1940
FAX 503-235-1948
Pager 503-635-1622
____________________________ /
LISCENSED IN OREGON SINCE 1975
J.L.S. Lawn Service
Singles & Seniors, I can help you!
“ 1st Class Gaurantee”
A-ZEBRA
H. rmls
George A. Hendrix
MBA. GRI, Broker
O
Realty Inc.
300 NE Multnomah, Suite #16
Portland, Oregon 97232
munity Home Buyer’s Program lender
and expects the loans to be widely
available within 90 days. Consumers
wishing more information on the Fan
nie 97 or Start-Up Mortgage may call
Fannie M ae’s Public Information Of
fice toll-free at 1-800-7FANNIE (1-
800-732-6643). Monday - Friday, 9:00
a m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.
*
office: 503-335-0263
pager: 503-940-7721
*
Estimates
(503) 230-1390 • (Res.) 287-6837
A M k IV E R S A R Y
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Beginning With Our Martin Luther King Jr. Issue On Jan. 11, 1995
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