Redevelopment Agency Closes First Home Buyer Loan

FIRST-TIME BUYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TARGETS FORECLOSED HOMES

SUISUN CITY — Escrow closed this week on the first foreclosed home to be purchased through the Suisun City Redevelopment Agency’s First-Time Homebuyer Assistance / Foreclosure Eradication Program.

“We are moving quickly and aggressively to address this challenge in our community,” said Mayor Pete Sanchez. “I was delighted when I heard this first deal closed.”

Suisun City, which has a population of 27,950, committed $3.4 million in local affordable housing funds to underwrite about 100 down payment assistance loans for first-time home buyers of foreclosed properties. The loans can be worth up to 25% of the value of the property.

The program provides equity share loans on which the homeowner makes no payments. The Agency recovers the principal it invested and shares in any equity appreciation in the home upon future sale.

The Agency has received more than 108 inquiries and qualified 12 homebuyers who have 60 days purchase a home. Four additional homebuyers are in escrow with the help of a Suisun City down-payment loan.

“I’m very pleased with all the hard work that has gone into making this a successful program,” said City Manager Suzanne Bragdon. “We’re moving very rapidly to make a real impact on our foreclosure challenges and preserving the quality of our neighborhoods.”

The First-time Homebuyer Assistance / Foreclosure Eradication Program was designed to provide homeownership opportunities for qualifying families while helping to address the glut of vacant homes on the market as a result of the broader foreclosure crisis. The City Council, sitting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, wanted to move quickly without waiting to see what federal and state programs may be developed.

For more information on the program, visit www.suisun.com/ed.html or call 707-421-7307.

The down payment assistance program is one proactive step Suisun City has taken to buffer the impact of the broad national financial crisis, others include:

• City Council created the Foreclosure Task Force to investigate how to work directly with financially distressed homeowners
• The Task Force and Economic Development Department sponsored two community workshops
• The Agency launched Foreclosed Home Rehabilitation Program in partnership with local home builders
• The Agency launched Neighborhood Reinvestment Program offering matching grants up to $2,500 to make “curb appeal” improvements for homeowners to upgrade their homes and assist first-time homebuyers
• The City initiated revision to City’s Nuisance Ordinance to hold banks accountable for condition of foreclosed properties
• The City initiated application for approximately $665,000 in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds through the state