Housing GSO: HRA Greensboro Affordable Housing Plan

ACCESS TO HOMEOWNERSHIP

OFFER ENHANCED SERVICES WITH MORTGAGES | Overview

Key Partners • City of Greensboro - NDD • Non-profit housing services provider • Financial counseling agencies • Mortgage lenders

The DPA program requires all loan recipients to complete a HUD-approved eight-hour, in-person homebuyer education course. HUD provides a list of Approved Housing Counseling Agencies, which it sponsors to provide these trainings and general advice to prospective homebuyers. Six agencies are authorized in the Triad, with four located in Greensboro. NDD contracts with an Approved Housing Counseling Agency to administer the DPA program and conduct the HUD workshops. While “credit -ready clients” can immediately take the required eight-hour training, there are more personalized services for households with barriers to homeownership such as gaps in employment, high student or medical debt, or inability to find inspector-approved homes to purchase. These households are serviced through the Individual Development Account Program (IDA), which provides participants with a success coach, intensive financial planning, problem-solving counseling on the costs of homeownership, and a monitored savings account. However, after the duration of the IDA program, participants are no longer monitored or counseled. Enacting an enhanced services mortgage program will help prolong public and non-profit support to first-time homebuyers throughout the life of a participant’s mortgage, helping to reduce the potential for foreclosure. The City should offer DPA recipients long-term counseling if they fall behind on their mortgage payments. Providing an enhanced services mortgage to participants will provide greater support for Greensboro’s low -income households and reduce risk of foreclosure .

Action Steps

1. Add enhanced services requirement to loan terms

2. Establish an action plan (with explicit reporting protocol and detailed services) for mortgage lenders, NDD staff, and non-profit partners

Anticipated Cost to Implement:

$350 Per household served

HR&A Advisors, Inc.

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