 |
|
|
|
|
Housing trust partnership reaches out to local residents
Group hopes to assist residents in finding affordable homes
By Jana Seshadri
The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County has tackled the issue of affordable housing--an oxymoron in Silicon Valley--and hopes to alleviate the problem by offering reduced-rate and deferred payment loans to first-time homebuyers and developers.
"It's very exciting that we've reached our first threshold--raising $20 million," said Pat Vorreiter, Sunnyvale city councilwoman and HTSCC board member.
With financial support from major corporations, cities, the county, small- and medium-sized businesses, and local foundations, the group plans to use the $20 million to provide housing and support services for 5,000 individuals, Vorreiter said.
The four-partner trust is a public/private initiative, founded in 1997 by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, Santa Clara County Collaborative on Housing and Homelessness and Community Foundation Silicon Valley. Focusing on housing-related concerns, the trust has since evolved into a partnership of more than 70 public and private sector housing leaders, lenders, environmental organizations, and city and county officials, said Poncho Guevara, acting executive director.
Among the hundreds of housing trusts and organizations established throughout the country, HTSCC is unique, Vorreiter said.
"This is the only trust of its kind that relied on the private sector to raise funds," she added.
She said the program's goal is to distribute funds and help three segments of society equally--a third of the funds each goes to the homeless, for rental assistance and for first-time homebuyers.
"There has been so much demand in the area," said Tracy Cunningham, Santa Clara county homebuyer program specialist. "The direct impact of helping people has been overwhelming--I couldn't keep up."
Since the trust started its programs five months ago, the lending activity has included 48 first-time homebuyer loans, five loans to developers building 513 multi-family units and four loans to developers for building 217 units for the homeless, Guevara said.
According to Cunningham, the two programs being offered to first-time homebuyers since last September--the Closing Cost Loan and Superflex Loan--have been so popular that the $1 million allocated for the Closing Cost Loan Program has already been depleted.
Qualified buyers received a $6,500 no-interest loan to pay for closing costs when they purchased a home with a maximum cost of $475,000 in Santa Clara County, under this loan. The trust is hoping to start offering the closing cost loan to the public in the summer, she said.
The Superflex loan, which started in January, provides first- and second-mortgage loans to buyers, the second mortgage being a reduced-rate, deferred repayment loan, Cunningham said.
"We've had two people who were able to take advantage of these programs and are now living in their own homes in Sunnyvale," Vorreiter said.
In order to qualify for either loan, the applicant should have a household income of no more than $115,200 and cannot have owned a home in the county within one year of their application to the program, Cunningham said. Mortgage brokers and lenders can work around other requirements like acceptable credit and funds for down payment, by using one of several other programs that the county offers.
Developers also work very hard to make this complex system work, Guevara said. They work with cities to acquire land and for zoning, construction and pre-development financing.
"The hope is that we'd be able to establish such credibility with these programs that it would be ongoing," Vorreiter said.
Several rounds of funding would have to produce the monies to continue the loan programs in the future, Guevara said.
"Housing is not just a social issue--it's an economic one," Vorreiter added.
Whereas in the past the board was able to raise funds almost entirely from the private sector, it will be up to both the public and private sectors to step up to the plate and make this an ongoing effort and program in the future, she said.
"It has to be a shared responsibility," Vorreiter said.
More information about the Housing Trust can be obtained from the website www.housingtrustscc.org and information about homebuyer programs can be obtained from www.MCCprogram.com or by calling 408.299.5142.
|
|
|
|
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
