Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Neighborhood Finance Corporation outlines Polk County down-payment and renovation programs, energy lending and CDFI grant plans
Summary
Stephanie Murphy of Neighborhood Finance Corporation told Polk County supervisors NFC helped 296 borrowers with $12 million in lending, described a Polk County-backed down-payment program deployed to $4.5M of $5M, explained 0% deferred loan terms for forgivable assistance and previewed plans to apply for EPA greenhouse-gas CDFI funds.
Stephanie Murphy of Neighborhood Finance Corporation told Polk County supervisors that NFC’s coordinated lending and program work has moved significant local money into homes and repairs and leveraged additional private capital.
Murphy said NFC and partners served 296 borrowers with about $12 million in total lending, including roughly $4.2 million for renovations, and that the Polk County down-payment fund had disbursed $4.5 million of a $5 million allocation through July. She described the Polk County down-payment assistance as structured around a 0% deferred loan that borrowers must repay if they sell the home or do a cash-out refinance, and said borrowers must complete homebuyer education and a home inspection before closing to reduce later repair-related defaults.
Murphy described collaborative delivery on renovation projects, where Polk County Emergency Repair, Habitat for Humanity and other local partners pool resources to close funding gaps for individual homeowners. She said that combining Polk County funds with federal and private sources allowed some households to receive up to about $40,000 in layered subsidy in specific cases.
On energy and climate-related lending, Murphy described NFC’s Energy Advantage program: NFC has served 87 homeowners with $580,000 of Energy Advantage funds and used ARPA and local grants plus partnerships with Grow Solar to promote energy-efficiency upgrades. She said NFC, as a certified community development financial institution, plans to apply when EPA’s Inflation Reduction Act greenhouse gas funding opens for CDFIs; Murphy said CDFIs are eligible for a top-line allocation (she cited $11,000,000 as an illustrative CDFI allocation) and that NFC had submitted competitive grant applications to expand energy lending.
Murphy also said NFC has begun multifamily and local-developer lending and currently has $1.75 million available at 0% for local affordable-housing developers. When supervisors asked about program eligibility and average subsidy levels, Murphy clarified Polk County provided $30,000 of the down-payment funds for many borrowers and NFC added about $10,500 through its own programs, meaning borrowers that came through NFC often received roughly $40,500 in combined assistance.
Murphy emphasized program safeguards — required homebuyer education, mandatory home inspections and partnerships with service providers — and reported low delinquency and foreclosure rates for NFC-originated loans. The board did not take formal action on these presentations; questions focused on case management and possible expansion of supports for higher-need households.
