Downpayment

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Boosting Detroit homeownership

This new effort to boost homeownership in Detroit comes six months after Detroit’s return to its status of being a majority homeowner city for the first time in decades. Mayor Duggan said the Downpayment Assistance Plan can build on that progress.

“There are a lot of Detroiters who are paying more in rent each month than the cost of a mortgage payment but need some help with upfront costs associated with purchasing a home,” Mayor Duggan said. “Thanks to President Biden and the American Rescue Plan Act, we can help hundreds more Detroiters own their own homes, create generational wealth and protect themselves from the increasing rents we are seeing as our city rebuilds. We are already seeing more people benefitting from the opportunity to become homeowners in Detroit, and this is a chance for more Detroiters to join them.”

Easy as 1-2-3

The mayor and councilmembers laid out three steps for Detroiters to follow to take advantage of the program.

Find a lender from among the 13 partner organizations in the program. The participating lenders are Bank of America, Chase, CIBC, Citizens, Fifth Third Bank, First Independence Bank, First Merchants Bank, Flagstar Bank, Huntington Bank, Independent Bank, Liberty Bank, PNC Bank and Rocket Mortgage.

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‘Game changer’ for Detroiters

The Downpayment Assistance Program is geared primarily toward renters, but also is available to those who lost their home to foreclosure in 2010-16 and are attempting to purchase a new one. The program will be overseen by the Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department and implemented by National Faith Homebuyers, a Detroit-based nonprofit that since 1996 has assisted metro Detroiters in buying a house or staying in their homes, including down-payment assistance, first-time homebuyer counseling, and financial literacy programs.

“I believe that this new downpayment program will be a game changer for the residents of the City of Detroit,” said Dina Harris, founder and president of National Faith Homebuyers. “This program will put homeownership back within reach of the families that want to own a home. We are honored to have been selected to serve the families in this great city and will spare no efforts to help them reach their goals. Kudos to the leadership of Detroit for launching this program at a time when it is so greatly needed.”

The Ownership Initiative, a Black-owned impact advisory firm headquartered in Detroit, helped design the program. Founded by CEO Krysta Pate, The Ownership Initiative has helped create more than 30 initiatives across six states that have collectively deployed over $83 million into personal wealth building, affordable housing, and small-business empowerment opportunities.

“It has been decades since this type of home ownership support was available in the city,” Pate said. “Prior to the housing market crash of 2008, Detroit was recognized as one of the top cities in the nation for black home ownership. This was the Detroit that I grew up in and that I fondly remember, and that I want to see reclaim the generational wealth we’ve lost from that time. This program will go a long way toward helping us in that goal.”

Protection from rising rents

The program comes amid considerable increases to property values. Homes across Detroit are continuing a six-year trend of significantly rising property values, with increases larger than most surrounding communities. Detroit home values increased an average of 20 percent last year. Though this is great for those Detroiters who already owned property, it puts others at risk of increasing rents.

“The progress Detroit has seen has been incredible, but it also comes at a time of increasing lending rates that threaten that progress,” said Julie Schneider, director of the City of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department. “We know that to keep the trend going, we needed to offer something that was going to have a major impact for Detroit families. We also are providing further tools and resources to those homebuyers to set them up for greater success.”

Eligibility and application process

To be eligible to apply for the program, Detroit residents must not have held an interest in property in the last three years. The total household income for applicants cannot exceed the following income limits per household size:

Applicants must prove they have lived in the city of Detroit for the last 12 months, or that they lost a home in the city due to property tax foreclosure between 2010 and 2016. From 2010 to 2014, the City’s residential property assessment process was broken, resulting in many homeowners being overtaxed. Upon taking office in January 2014, Mayor Duggan immediately cut residential assessments by 22% his first month in office and continued to reduce assessed values over the next two years to reflect the market at the time. Full program details and eligibility requirements are available at www.detroitdpa.org

All individuals receiving a grant must use the home as their principal residence for three years after the grant award or pay back the loan on a pro-rated basis, based on how long they lived in the home after the grant award. The grants apply when the applicant is buying a home using a purchase mortgage or a purchase renovation mortgage.

To learn more about program details and eligibility requirements, and to apply, go to www.detroitdpa.org or call 313-244-0274. The National Faith Home Buyers team can assist residents with detailed questions, and assistance with completing the DPA application defunded due to the anti-LGBTQ scare of “grooming,” Peele said in a one-on-one interview with the Michigan Chronicle. The voters in Jamestown, located in Western Michigan, elected against funding the library. She said people donated to the library, but she doesn’t know how long the money will last.

Detroit has the opposite problem. “Our customers are more concerned about us staying open than these bigger controversies,” said Peele. “Our customers”— meaning the library patrons—”aren’t trying to limit but expand the book collection, the hotspot and computers. They’re more concerned about masks.”

As for the bigger controversy of CRT, Peele stated, “At the Detroit Public Library, every day is Black History Month. What people consider CRT is all over our shelves.”

The Michigan Chronicle asked Peele about what she believes is fueling the ongoing mess. She said that social media, Fox News and

“people passing along lists of books that they never read.”

“Even my more religious customers monitor what their children read. They aren’t having the kinds of conversations with the staff that [these other protesters] are having.”

She said that her library’s urban book collection is one of the most popular ones. The genre and the classics being the books by Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines, have graphic scenes of violence and sex. But no one’s tripping about it so far.

In the midst of knowing the community supports the library, she said that “I’m concerned about our safety sometimes, with someone wanting to argue with the staff and the encounter escalating to violence.

“But overall, our customers do appreciate the library and are glad that we’re here. They’re glad we provide the services we do to the community.”

Peele made this air-clearing statement: “One of the benefits of being a citizen of the United States is the opportunity to choose for yourself and your family what you want to read.”

$1 Million Gift Boosts Music Education in Detroit

MSU Community Music School in Detroit Receives

Funds Vital to Expand Access to Music Education

By Andre Ash

Greater access to music education in Detroit is being made available thanks to a $1 million gift from MSU Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU). MSU Community Music School-Detroit (CMS-D)is the recipient.

“CMS-D is an incubator for artistic excellence and cultivates a diverse and connected community by providing opportunities for lifelong education, college and career readiness, mentorship and belonging,” said CMS-D Director Kristopher Johnson. “We need partners who share our vision and are as committed as we are to removing barriers to music education in Detroit. I am extremely grateful that we have such a supportive partner in MSUFCU.”

Michigan State University Community Music School-Detroit (CMS-D), an outreach arm of the MSU College of Music, will use the funds to provide sustainable resources through the new Detroit Regional Engagement and Access to Music Endowment (MSUFCU DREAM) Fund.

“Music is great!” said Seth Sharp, 18, an aspiring musician and student at CMS-D. “My school doesn’t have any music classes, so this became my main source of music information.”

At CMS-D, students of any age can engage weekly in high quality and accessible sequential music education through early childhood music, music therapy, group and private lessons, youth ensembles, adult ensembles and music production classes.

“The vibrant cultural legacy within Detroit combined with access to inspiring music education is an undeniable recipe for the continued success of personal development, fostering enriched lives through the power of music,” Johnson said.

CMS-D has had a significant presence in Detroit since opening in 2009. With the MSUFCU DREAM Fund endowment in place, CMS-D will be able to strengthen its subsidized tuition program. Funds will also go toward instrument loans for CMS-D students in need, an MSUFCU Detroit Arts Leadership Engagement Program and an annual MSU On the Road at MSUFCU Detroit Concert Series.