Homeownership initiative expands with $7 million investment in
down payment assistance for low- and moderate-income residents
Homeownership rates among people of color in Minneapolis and St.
Paul, Minn., demonstrate the highest disparity in the U.S. with a
glaring 50% racial equity gap between White and Black homeowners,
according to the Urban Institute. To address this ongoing issue,
Wells Fargo, NeighborWorks® America, and its network member
NeighborWorks Home Partners today announced NeighborhoodLIFT®
program, a $7 million collaboration to boost homeownership in
Minneapolis and St. Paul for low- and moderate-income individuals
by offering $15,000 in down payment assistance to 425 eligible
homebuyers.
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“Homeownership is a key pathway to housing stability, wellness
and wealth accumulation, but far too many people—including people
of color—aren’t able to overcome the barrier of coming up with a
down payment,” said Laurie Nordquist, lead region president for
Wells Fargo Bank in Minnesota. “Together with NeighborWorks America
and NeighborWorks Home Partners, this initiative will help more
low- and moderate-income families become successful homeowners in
Minneapolis and St. Paul.”
“I am thrilled to welcome the Wells Fargo Neighborhood LIFT
program to the Twin Cities,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
“Through our existing Minneapolis Homes programs and past work with
NeighborWorks Home Partners, we know that down payment assistance
programs are a key element to opening up access to homeownership
for our low and moderate income Minneapolis households and
addressing the racial homeownership gap. I look forward to
welcoming hundreds of new Minneapolis homeowners through this $7
million investment.”
“This enduring public health and economic crisis increases the
barriers too many face in accessing stable affordable housing,”
said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. “This investment from Wells
Fargo in collaboration with NeighborWorks America and NeighborWorks
Home Partners helps support a pathway towards home ownership for
hundreds of families and greater community stability.”
The NeighborhoodLIFT program also aligns with the goals and
principles of the Roundtable for Economic Access and Change
(Project REACh) founded by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency. The Project REACh coalition focuses on removing
barriers to financial inclusion and providing greater access to
credit and capital. Wells Fargo is involved in all four Project
REACh work streams, including the Alternative Credit Score Utility;
Small Business Opportunity; Revitalizing Minority Depository
Institutions Working Groups; and is leading the Homeownership
Working Group, which seeks to expand and preserve affordable
homeownership among minority populations. The NeighborhoodLIFT
program addresses several of the challenges facing potential
homeowners, including engaging in homebuyer education, savings, and
wealth creation. Additional information can be found at
www.occ.gov/REACh.
“This Wells Fargo initiative supports broader inclusion in the
financial system by addressing a key barrier to owning a home in
Minneapolis and St. Paul, which has the largest racial disparity of
homeownership in the U.S.,” said Kristy Fercho, head of Wells Fargo
Home Lending and chair of the Project REACh Homeownership Working
Group. “In addition to providing down payment assistance, we are
looking forward to launching more programs aligned with these goals
– like a new closing cost credit program – in the days ahead.”
Today’s expansion of the NeighborhoodLIFT program builds on
Wells Fargo’s investment of $925 million in local community
development loans and equity investments for affordable housing
development projects in Minnesota since 2009. This financing has
supported the creation or renovation of 4,556 affordable rental
units for families, veterans, seniors, and homeless Minnesotans.
The 56 housing developments supported by this financing between
2009-2018 account for more than one of every five affordable rental
housing units in the state, according to the most current data
available from HUD. Almost $14 million in previous Minnesota LIFT
investments have helped more than 875 state residents become
homeowners since 2012.
Wells Fargo’s latest NeighborhoodLIFT investment for Minneapolis
and St. Paul includes $250,000 for home ownership counseling so
buyers can learn how to navigate the home purchasing process and
determine how to best budget for ongoing homeownership costs.
Counseling is available through NeighborWorks Home Partners and
other local HUD-certified counseling agencies.
“This important collaboration will assist more than 425
homeowners,” said John Santner, regional vice president, Midwest
region, NeighborWorks America. “The required homebuyer education
provided by trained professionals to better prepare
NeighborhoodLIFT homebuyers to achieve their goal of sustainable
homeownership.”
Eligible homebuyers can earn 80% or less of family median income
in Minneapolis and St. Paul, which is about $77,840, as determined
by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
Participating homebuyers can obtain mortgage financing from any
participating NeighborhoodLIFT lender, and NeighborWorks Home
Partners will determine eligibility and administer the down payment
assistance.
Interested individuals should visit www.wellsfargo.com/lift for
additional information for the steps to apply for down payment
assistance. Homebuyers can view a list of participating lenders and
sign-up for homebuyer education with a HUD-approved provider at
https://nwhomepartners.org. Applications for down payment
assistance may be submitted beginning Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.
“We are ready to help more Minneapolis and St. Paul families
achieve successful and sustainable homeownership,” said Jason
Peterson, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks Home Partners.
“NeighborhoodLIFT is a unique program that prepares people for
homeownership through empowering education.”
Since 2012, Wells Fargo has invested $504 million in
NeighborhoodLIFT and other LIFT programs across more than 1000
communities to help 24,500 Americans become homeowners. The program
is part of the Wells Fargo Foundation’s commitment to invest more
than $1 billion in support of housing affordability solutions
across the U.S.
The Wells Fargo Foundation has also distributed $175 million in
donations across the U.S. in 2020, in response to the economic
fallout caused by COVID-19. These resources have helped provide
support for food, small businesses, and housing needs. Grants
focused on keeping people housed include funding for national
nonprofit housing intermediaries, local nonprofits, and legal
assistance organizations, including Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, that
drive advocacy efforts and work with people to mitigate rental
evictions.
About NeighborWorks Home Partners and NeighborWorks America
NeighborWorks Home Partners is a chartered member of
NeighborWorks America, a national organization that creates
opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their
lives and strengthen their communities. NeighborWorks America
supports a network of more than 240 nonprofits, located in every
state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Visit
www.neighborworks.org or www.nwhomepartners.org to learn more.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified,
community-based financial services company with $1.92 trillion in
assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial
needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and
headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking,
investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer
and commercial finance, through 7,200 locations, more than 13,000
ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has
offices in 31 countries and territories to support customers who
conduct business in the global economy. Wells Fargo serves one in
three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company
was ranked No. 30 on Fortune’s 2020 rankings of America’s largest
corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are
also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com |
Twitter: @WellsFargo.
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