“So, this means we need to work on her depth and range of experience getting people out of homelessness in the housing world. A lawyer by and into low-income housing and trade, her experience includes stints then out of low-income housing working in the California Assembly as and into a market-rate apartment or a consultant, then as special assistant buying their own home. This issue to Assembly Speakers Karen is personal to me because Bass and Fabien Nunez; I have actually working in the taken that journey private sector as THE BIGGEST with my mother a housing lawyer; BARRIERS TO and my sister. and serving HOMEOWNERSHIP ARE We experienced as General EDUCATION AND DOWN homelessness, Counsel for the PAYMENT ASSISTANCE, SO I’M we lived Sacramento in public Housing and HOPING CALHFA CAN FILL THOSE housing in a GAPS AND HELP MORE BLACK mixed-income AND BROWN PEOPLE BECOME neighborhood Redevelopment HOMEOWNERS AND START and then my Agency, the TO BUILD GENERATIONAL mom used a firstlocal housing WEALTH. time homebuyer authority in program to Sacramento. purchase a home.” Now, in addition to her role directing CalHFA, According to a recent article in Boatman Patterson also serves as the CALmatters, while Black people Board Chair for the National Council make up just 6% of California’s of State Housing Agencies and, in overall population, around 30% 2019, she spent a year as Governor of the state’s homeless are Black. Gavin Newsom’s Senior Advisor on When it comes to homeownership, Housing. a history of discriminatory practices and government polices such as redlining, have resulted in just 33% of Black California households owning their home compared to 60% of white households. CalHFA offers a variety of programs to address these issues. The Agency’s Multifamily Division partners with affordable housing developers to finance the creation and preservation of rental housing for families in danger of homelessness and those who make a slightly higher income but are still struggling to afford housing near where they work. Meanwhile, CalHFA’s Homeownership Division provides first mortgages and crucial down payment assistance to help low- and moderate-income California families buy their first home. The Agency, which helped more than 13,000 Californians become firsttime homebuyers in the past year, is constantly expanding and refining its programs to make sure it is reaching as many people possible. Boatman Patterson leads those efforts using | 4 7 | T H E HU B MA G A Z I N E
With all of that experience, as well as her personal story growing up in rural Tulare, Boatman Patterson knows only too well the challenges that Black Californians face when it comes to housing and homeownership. “The biggest barriers to homeownership are education and down payment assistance, so I’m hoping CalHFA can fill those gaps and help more Black and brown people become homeowners and start to build generational wealth,” Boatman Patterson said. CalHFA’s down payment assistance program used $214 million to help to those 13,000 families from across the state over the past year, 8% of them Black and 53% of them Latinx. The program provides up to 3.5% of the purchase price as a silent second mortgage so that homebuyers who have good credit and can afford their monthly bills but haven’t been able to save up, can use that money for a down payment.
like these and knowing that needing 20% for a down payment is a myth, is about education. “If you have parents or family that have been homeowners, they can pass on that knowledge to you and typically your parents can use that equity that they have built to help you with a down payment,” said Boatman Patterson. “I want people to understand that you too can buy a home and start building that wealth.” CalHFA has been working to get the word out through the network of private lenders it partners with, and through a new Black Homeownership marketing campaign, which is focusing on strategic community partnerships with organizations such as Sacramento Cultural Hub. “One of the things we have found is that Black and brown folks don’t always go to a major bank when they are looking to get a mortgage or get information on how to buy a home,” said Boatman Patterson. “They will go to a mortgage broker or a real estate agent or just ask a friend they know that owns a home. That is why we need to be strategic with how we get information out to the community. “Every beauty shop that I go into and every barber shop that I go into, I see the Sacramento Cultural Hub. So it is things like that.” Another good source of information is housing counseling agencies, which are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These agencies help people who may be in danger of foreclosure or eviction, or people who are interested in learning about what it takes to buy and maintain a home. CalHFA is working on a brand-new program to provide $50 million to counseling programs all over the state so that they can build capacity and provide free sessions to Californians. The money comes from the National Mortgage Settlement Fund. n Tia Boatman Patterson, Executive Director California Housing Finance Agency www.calhfa.ca.gov
Knowing about assistance programs FALL 2020
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