(San Jose: January 2, 2008) The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County today launched two new programs designed to help qualified first-time homebuyers better afford their home purchase.

Qualified low-income homebuyers can take advantage of the Trust’s new Downpayment Assistance Program, offered in cooperation with the San Jose-based nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley to receive up to $15,000 in fixed, below-market rate financing that can be used to increase their downpayment. Moderate-income homebuyers can apply for assistance from the Trust’s Mortgage Assistance Program, which offers a below-market rate second mortgage that, combined with financing from Meriwest Mortgage, can reduce monthly home payments by a significant amount.

These programs replace the Trust’s previous $6,500 grant program. Taylor Dial, Executive Director of the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County said “We decided to look again at our homebuyer assistance offering and see if there might be other ways to serve a broader income range more effectively, and possibly even offer more assistance to all income levels. We decided that creating two levels of assistance was the way to do just that.”

Program details:

Downpayment Assistance Program

Working together, the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County and Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley (NHSSV) have created a new program that will help qualified low-income homebuyers purchase their first home in Santa Clara County.

The Housing Trust has established a fund at NHSSV to provide fixed, below-market rate secondary financing that may be used as a down-payment for first-time homebuyers. First-time homebuyers earning between 60% - 100% of our area’s median income who meet certain other requirements may qualify to borrow up to $15,000 from the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County when they purchase their home through NHSSV. The loan, compatible with Fannie Mae and CalHFA requirements, will be interest bearing and will be performing from the outset.

Mortgage Assistance Program

Working with Meriwest Mortgage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the not-for-profit Meriwest Credit Union, your Housing Trust has created an entirely new loan package that helps qualified moderate-income families buy their first home in Santa Clara County.

In conjunction with a Meriwest Mortgage first home loan, the Housing Trust offers a below-market rate second loan that will be used to reduce the first loan’s interest rate and prepay the private mortgage insurance. Meriwest Mortgage will supply a new first mortgage up to 97% Loan to Value. The loan products that will be available for this special program are: a 30 year fixed rate, a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) 30 year loan fully amortizing, and 5/1 ARM adjustable 40 year loan fully amortizing. In combination, these loans will help reduce the monthly payment to the homeowner.

Full details and qualifications will be available on the Housing Trust’s website, www.housingtrustscc.org, on January 2, 2008. Applications for both programs will be accepted starting January 2, 2008.

About the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County America’s pioneering public-private affordable housing investment trust was formed in 1999 through a partnership with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the County Board of Supervisors, the Santa Clara County Collaborative for Housing and Homeless Issues, and Community Foundation: Silicon Valley. The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County has invested more than $26 million in affordable housing opportunities throughout Santa Clara County. Since they began distributing funds in August, 2001, the Trust has already helped more than 6,618 families, including helping 2,003 families buy their first homes in Santa Clara County; enabled the development of 1,258 units of affordable rental housing, worth over $341 million; and helped create hundreds of units of shelter and special-needs housing in our community, making it possible for people like teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses and civic employees to live in the communities they serve. The Trust has leveraged every dollar invested into the creation of at least $45 worth of affordable housing in Santa Clara County.