Building for Poor Has Stopped With Lack of Mortgages

Lakeland Ledger (FL) (07/07/08); Pera, Eric
The U.S. government's HOPE VI program, which aims to make homeownership a possibility for the working poor, appears to have ground to a standstill in Lakeland, Fla., as prospective buyers in two new federally subsidized communities encounter difficulties in arranging financing. Mortgage lenders have adjusted credit scores out of reach for low-income workers, preventing them from purchasing the new single-family homes and townhomes, according to Lakeland Housing Authority executive director Herb Hernandez. Would-be buyers have an opportunity to take advantage of credit counseling, classes on budgeting income and down payments as low as $1,000 on new three-bedroom, two-bath homes; but many have been unable to obtain mortgages. More than half of the 40 home sites in the LakeRidge community have not been sold, and none of the 30 home sites in the Washington Oaks community has been sold.