COJ Website: NeighborhoodLIFT Creates Home Buying Opportunities for Working People in Jacksonville

[Patricia M. McBride]

Why is the city involved in this?  Since when is the city involved in procuring loans for people or interferring with companies that give people loans.  This is NOT a private public partnership, it is the city interferring the a privately owned business.  Let Wells Fargo set this up with the help of the non profits, and get the city out of it (they have no business doing this at all).

 

Comment from the person who was on top of this post on the city of Jacksonville web site and sent it out to everyone: 

These homes are Stealth Inventory , The end result will be at best 100 homes moved out and the rest of the 5.5 Mill consumed in Administrative costs and salaries. These programs have been tried for Decades; they DONT work.  This is the "same stuff" that got us where we are now. OBAMA JR. (BROWN) thinks he has a brand new game.

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NeighborhoodLIFT Creates Home Buying Opportunities for Working People in Jacksonville

Mayor Alvin Brown was joined by Wells Fargo and local nonprofit leaders to announce NeighborhoodLIFT, which is designed to help local residents become homeowners. The $7 million investment includes down payment assistance grants and homebuyer support programs. The City of Jacksonville, together with Wells Fargo and the nonprofits NeighborWorks America and Family Foundations will ensure the program provides homebuyer support, education, affordable home tours and an opportunity to quality for up to $15,000 in down payment assistance to purchase a home in Jacksonville.

“About two months ago, it was my pleasure to announce that Wells Fargo would be committing approximately $1 million to help Jacksonville families achieve the dream of homeownership,” said Mayor Brown. “Today, Wells Fargo is upping the ante and I could not be more supportive. We’re seeing Wells Fargo, NeighborWorks America and Family Foundation stepping forward, in a big way, to partner with the City of Jacksonville and expand opportunity to many hard-working people.”

NeighborhoodLIFT will sponsor a free homebuyer event July 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. At the event, attendees can find out if they qualify for the down payment assistance program and reserve funds for 60 days—even if a property has not been located yet. Prospective homebuyers can also take a free bus tour to view homes from noon to 5 p.m. both days. Free parking in designated lots will be available. Prospective homebuyers are encouraged to pre-register at this website, where they can also learn more about NeighborhoodLIFT.

“Jacksonville was significantly affected by the housing crisis,” said Scott Coble, Wells Fargo’s Regional President for North Florida. “Today, despite low home prices and historically low interest rates, many Jacksonville families are still unable to purchase a home because they simply cannot afford the down payment. The NeighborhoodLIFT program will help address this issue by providing down payment assistance.”

Jacksonville is one of the four cities in Florida where the NeighborhoodLIFT program is being deployed, along with Miami, Tampa, and Orlando.

“NeighborhoodLIFT is a step toward safe, sustainable neighborhoods that will increase quality of life and personal wealth for all residents,” said Mayor Brown. “We are always stronger together. This is a great example.”

Posted 7/5/2012

http://www.coj.net/mayor/headlines/neighborhoodlift-creates-home-bu...

Housing and Community Development Division

The Housing and Community Development Division manages housing related initiatives on behalf of the City of Jacksonville to ensure the availability of affordable housing to low and moderate income persons within the Jacksonville community through public and private partnerships. It also fosters community development and resident involvement in neighborhoods and administers the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund (NWJEDF).

http://www.coj.net/departments/housing-and-neighborhoods.aspx

Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority The JHFA was established under ordinance 2002-1314-E in compliance with Florida Statutes 159.601. The JHFA was created for the purpose of addressing affordable housing needs in the city of Jacksonville by stimulating the construction and rehabilitation of housing through the use of public financing. The JHFA is empowered to alleviate the shortage of affordable residential housing and to provide capital for investment in such facilities for low, moderate or middle income families and persons anywhere within the city of Jacksonville through the issuance of its revenue bonds (subject to legislative approval).

A five-member board appointed by the mayor and the City Council governs the authority.

http://www.coj.net/departments/independent-boards-and-agencies/jack...

[Patricia M. McBride]

Agree Dennis.  The only part I don't get is the partnership word.  We aren't partners at all; we are simply offering up another handout with no notable over sight for the taxpayers (many of who probably did without and carefully budgeted their own money to SAVE their own down payment for a home).  I would wonder if this isn't for the benefit of people like the couple who bought a house in our neighborhood that had always lived in apartments and then, we slowly watched the house deteriate as they were clueless how to fix anything or to manage the upkeep of the house.  They were nice people, their children were lovely, but they got duped into buying a house they couldn't afford, and then, after going out and buying 2 brand new SUVs the week after they moved in, struggled to make the payments, worked 2 jobs trying to hold on, and finally decided a house was too expensive and too much work and the house was repo'd.   It also destroyed their marriage which might have been left in tact had they just been left alone and not convinced they just had to own their own house.

[Patricia M. McBride]

Amanda, more of the liberal rhetoric. "Previous failed" options? Really. You mean the ones that were in place before we were taken to the brink of bankrupcy by the liberal policies of the last 2 or 3 mayors? We are talking about more programs that take our tax dollars and inject them into situations where they government does not belong. This is not their job. Leave it to private companies and non profits. As it is our local government does not have the time to properly oversee the things they are supposed to do, have a union pension fund that is a disaster due to the policies of mayors who just agreed to anything and everything and kicked the can down the road time and again. The failed policies were not the ones from the past that stayed within the confines governments are supposed to stay in; the policies that are failed are the over reaching wasteful ones currently in place................you have been drinking the koolaid and are now pumping nothing but empty "parroted" undefined and certainly unsubstantiated rhetoric.

[Dennis J. Fleming]

If I understand correctly $15,000 of taxpayer funds will be given to Wellls Fargo for each person who gets into the program.  It is not the responsibility of one taxpayer to make the down payment for other people.

Perhaps home ownership is not the answer for everyone.  Home ownership can be expensive and difficult if the owner does not have the skill to maintain the property.

This looks like another program where a public official transfers taxpayer money to a private partner.

[amanda choate]

It lowers the inventory, good for everyone. Rehabs homes, which means construction jobs. Puts people in homes they can afford, they are vested in success. This is what a three pronged approach looks like, private for profit, local government, private non-profit. Each with different goals and needs in balance. It is up to us to make sure it works, stay involved. But to dismiss it out of hand leaves only previous failed options as options.