August 28, 2006

Mayor Fabrizi Promotes "Live Where You Work" Homeownership Program

'U R Home Program' provides financial incentives to State, municipal, and private sector employees for home purchase and rehab

BRIDGEPORT, CONN. - Mayor John M. Fabrizi announced today Bridgeport's participation in the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority's (CHFA) "Urban Rehabilitation Homeownership Program (U R Home)." U R Home is a home purchase and rehabilitation loan program that uses a combination of State funding and low-interest CHFA mortgage funding to promote homeownership by encouraging individuals to live where they work. Joining the mayor were Timothy Coppage, vice president, housing development, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority;Bryan Huebner, executive vice president, consumer and residential lending, People's Bank;and Doris Latorre, national director for quality assurance for ACORN Housing. People's Bank is the primary lender in the greater Bridgeport area and ACORN is the designated counseling agency for Bridgeport.

"Homeownership is the strongest means to help individuals build wealth, move up the socio-economic ladder, and raise the quality of life in Bridgeport neighborhoods," said Fabrizi. "The U R Home program offers the added benefit of reducing highway congestion by encouraging folks to work where they live."

U R Homes loans are available on a first-come first-served basis. Eligible homebuyers must be employed full time and working in the city in which they intend to buy a home. Participating Connecticut cities include Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, New London, Waterbury, and Willimantic. Eligible borrowers include State of Connecticut employees, municipal employees in the participating cities, and private sector employees, if the employer agrees to make a contribution toward the employee's down payment and/or closing costs. Private sector employers must agree to contribute between $250 - $2500, depending on the size of the company.

The City of Bridgeport recently passed an amendment to Ordinance 3.25.010 in order to participate in the U R Home program. The amended ordinance authorizes the City to not tax improvements on all eligible properties for five years from the date the rehabilitation is completed.

CHFA funds are to be used for rehab costs up to a maximum of $20,000 for a single family home and $25,000 for multifamily home (2-4 units). Condominiums and mobile homes are not eligible. The funding from the State has a 0% interest rate and these loans are forgiven at 20% a year over five years. CHFA's 1st mortgage interest rate is 1/4% below the regular CHFA interest rate at the time the loan is reserved.

"People's is pleased to once again participate in the UR Home program," said Bryan Huebner, executive vice president for consumer and residential lending at People's Bank. "For any employee who works in Bridgeport and wants to purchase a home in the city, People's Bank will contribute $2,500 toward closing costs. As the primary CHFA lender in Bridgeport, People's also will be reaching out to the community to spread the word about this innovative program among all those who want to become homeowners and participate in the revitalization of our city."

"ACORN is pleased to participate in this program as it provides yet another way to encourage individuals to take advantage of homeownership," stated Latorre.

For additional information about CHFA's U R Home program, please call (806) 571-4230 (for English) or (806) 571-4352 (for Spanish) or visit http://www.chfa.org/MainPages/URHomeProgram-2006.htm. There are several helpful fact sheets available for download. To contact People's Bank, please call (800) 772-1090. To contact ACORN, please call (203) 366-4180.