Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 12, 1 December 2000 — OHA homestead loan benefits hundreds [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA homestead loan benefits hundreds

By P o t t I Tancayo 0HA's $20 Million Homesteader Loan Program made possible more than 500 loans for down payments, home improvement, interim construction and self-help housing for native Hawaiian families accross the islands from Keaukaha to Anahola. Loans were based at an interest rate of 3 percent, amortized over a period of one-20 years. In an effort to help ease the housing financing problems of native Hawaiians on Hawaiian home lands and to create a housing financial model, OHA entered into two uniquē and historic agreements during the latter part of 1993, whieh led to the creation of the OHA $20 Million Homesteader Loan program. The two agreements were: • a memorandum between OHA and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), whereby DHHL would guarantee loans made under this loan program; and, • a loan origination and servicing agreement between OHA, DHHL and First Hawaiian Bank whieh established the loan fund within the bank and authorizes it as the servicing agent. According to preliminary results of OHA's Evaluation Report of the Homesteader Loan Program, the loan program was effective in providing housing benefits to homesteaders, and the 3 percent to 4 percent delinquency rate suggested that borrowers were committed to eeonomie improvement. The draft report also shows that the program provided positive impacts by assisting native Hawaiian beneficiaries to become homeowners instead of renters and improved their living conditions. he OHA Homesteader Loan Program was not I designed to be perpetual. One objective was I for it to serve as a model for financial housing I programs that could one day assist the broader I Hawaiian community with less than 50-percent Hawaiian blood quantum and those who do not have an opportunity to live on Hawaiian Home Lands. By October, the funds from the $20 Million Homesteader Loan Program were committed based on loans closed and in process. To assist those families who were most in need of housing assistance, the interim board of trustees, on Nov. 3, voted to extend the program to the end of the year, and to revise the guidelines to assist those who have never held property; families with low to median ineome; those who did not have up front cash for a down-payment; and to reduce the maximum loan amount for down payment to the amounl required for the FHA 247 mortgage. If you are interested in using the homesteader loan program for interim construction, self-help housing, home improvement or down payments, eall First Hawaiian Bank for an application at 808-643-5626. Subject to avaiability of funds, all eompleted applications must be received by Dec. 29. Editor's note: Patti Tancayo is a program specialist in the area of housing in OHA 's programs systems group. ■