8G Consent 2008 0707 - Laserfiche WebLink

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BAHBA Agreement FY 2008-09 2 July 7, 2008 primary mission is to promote homeownership opportunities for low to moderate-income households in the nine county Bay Area region. BAHBA contracts with the for-profit, First Horne, Inc. (FHI), which serves as BAHBA's administrative arm to manage operations and contracts. BAHBA administers the homebuyer assistance programs for cities including Alameda, Antioch, South San Francisco, Brisbane, and Redwood City as well as the Millbrae Redevelopment Agency. In addition, BAHBA is administering the below market rate ownership programs for the cities of Alameda, South San Francisco and Brisbane and has had experience implementing similar programs for Oakland and Berkeley along with the counties of Contra Costa, San Mateo and Alameda. BAHBA also has an extensive network of partners and resources to assist low and moderate income homebuyers with educational information about the homebuying process and financial leveraging from private and public resources such as California Housing Finance Agency (CaIHFA), Federal Home Loan Bank's WISH Program (which provides matching funds for eligible low income homebuyers), Operation Hope (for credit counseling services), and lenders such as Meriwest Bank, which is a nonprofit credit union. BAHBA spent the first half of FY 2007-08 transitioning in as the FTHB and IHOP administrator and effectively assumed full administrative duties for both programs in January 2008. Regarding the First Time Homebuyer Program, there have been 16 low interest downpayment/closing cost assistance loans approved or reserved to date. BAHBA has processed five (5) of the loans since January 2008. Of the three (3) free first time homebuyer seminars sponsored by the City in FY 2007-08, BAHBA conducted two (2): one in October 2007 and one in June 2008. Of the 149 certificates of completion awarded to households attending any of the three seminars, BAHBA awarded 118 of them. To date, BAHBA provided free one-on-one homebuyer counseling to 49 households (of which 37 were low to moderate income) who are San Leandro residents and/or employed in the City. Regarding the Inclusionary Housing Ownership Program, BAHBA revamped the existing, outdated wait list of about 60 households. BAHBA overhauled the old list and marketed the new one as well. The revised wait list presently contains 23 households who live or work in San Leandro and who have submitted current household/fmancial information and received one-on-one counseling from BAHBA. The modified wait list reflects the City desire to take a more proactive approach to ensure a qualified pool of eligible homebuyers for available inclusionary for sale units instead of relying on private developers to utilize and update the wait list for the City. While 11 households purchased inclusionary units this past fiscal year, they all occurred prior to BAHBA officially transitioning in as full-time administrator. However, BAHBA did process the resale of two (2) existing inclusionary units to income qualified buyers. BAHBA also worked with City staff to conduct the first ever post-purchase workshop in May 2008 for existing homeowners and/or loan recipients under the City's FTHB and IHOP Programs. The intent of the post-purchase workshops is to educate these homeowners about the resale and other affordability requirements under both programs and how to become stable homeowners. The City plans to make the post-purchase workshop an annual event similar to the ongoing first time homebuyer education seminars.