Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
VIDA seeks statutory authority to join lenders on multi‑unit housing projects
Summary
Joan Goldstein, executive director of the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VIDA), asked the House committee to let VIDA participate more frequently in multi‑unit housing lending, saying VIDA can leverage partner banks and ARPA-funded capital to offer lower rates; she noted current statute prohibits direct housing lending and pointed to a drafted bill under consideration.
Joan Goldstein, executive director of the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VIDA), told the House committee that VIDA wants the ability to participate more often in multi‑unit housing finance to expand lender capacity and move projects that currently don’t pencil.
Goldstein said VIDA has been operating since 1974 with a roughly $285,000,000 loan portfolio. “We borrow money in the interbank market… We don’t take deposits, so we’re not doing retail,” she said, describing VIDA as a wholesale lender that partners with banks and credit unions. She explained VIDA’s current statutory limits let it lend directly to agricultural enterprises and to certain commercial projects — including assisted‑living and senior housing — but “it expressly states we cannot lend on the housing side.”
Goldstein and committee members described common deal structures in which VIDA takes a participation role, sometimes subordinated to a commercial lender to manage risk and allow banks to maintain senior position. She gave rate examples to illustrate market impact, saying VIDA has made agricultural loans at about 5% and commercial participations around 6%, and that special programs (forestry) carried even lower rates where state funding applied.
A committee member asked whether there is a bill to change VIDA’s authority; Goldstein said draft language has been submitted to House Commerce and Senate Economic committees but she did not know the bill number. She emphasized VIDA would generally be “asked in” by banks and credit unions rather than actively soliciting housing business, and she urged the committee to consider allowing VIDA to be additive to existing housing finance tools rather than duplicative of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s work.
The committee thanked Goldstein and noted the matter would likely proceed through House Commerce; no formal vote or motion was taken during this hearing.
Next steps: the committee will track the draft language at House Commerce and may invite VIDA back for follow‑up if bill language is filed.
