Hoping to reduce the high cost of home ownership for first-time buyers in Silicon Valley, the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County on Wednesday announced two new loan programs for low- and moderate-income residents.
The non-profit group, begun in 2001 and dedicated to affordable housing and homeless issues, said one program will provide up to $15,000 in down payment assistance for qualified low-income buyers. In addition, a "mortgage assistance program" will loan up to $35,000 to moderate-income buyers to prepay their mortgage insurance and/or buy down the interest rate on their primary mortgage - either of which can reduce the buyers' monthly costs by hundreds of dollars.
"These loans are safe and sane loans for people to get," said Taylor Dial, executive director of the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County. He estimated that up to 400 buyers will benefit from the new loan programs in the first two years they are available. Applications are being accepted starting this week.
The down payment assistance program will be administered by non-profit Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley, and the mortgage assistance loan by Meriwest Mortgage, a subsidiary of the not-for-profit Meriwest Credit Union, based in San Jose.
