The 2023 Minnesota State Legislative Session has sparked a lot of excitement, especially with the passing of several multi-million dollar grants for housing and homelessness prevention.
NeighborWorks Home Partners is pleased to receive funding as a result of these new bills. With it, we plan to establish two new programs: one for fee-based home purchase financing, and another to support first-generation homebuyers with down payment assistance.
The first program is a $10 million initiative, which would create a non-interest-bearing, fee-based loan system to be used in place of conventional loans. Though this program can be used by any eligible homebuyer, lawmakers have noted that this programming is Sharia-compliant and would reduce homeownership barriers for those who cannot pay interest for religious or other reasons.
The second program is a $100 million plan in which NeighborWorks Home Partners, as well as other community development financial institutions, will administer down payment assistance for first generation homebuyers–specifically first-time homeowners whose parent or legal guardian never owned a home, or who lost their home due to foreclosure. This funding will be used to expand the NWHP First Generation program, which previously provided $10,000 to homebuyers in Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, and Anoka county.
We are extremely proud that our CEO, Jason Peterson, played a role in crafting language for the bill and testifying to support these funds for first-time buyers statewide. As noted by the Minnesota Homeownership Center, this program will be especially helpful to homebuyers of color who have historically less access to the generational wealth necessary to make a down payment.Â
The level of interest in these services is already beyond our imagination, and our staff is enthusiastic to make progress toward our vision of a Twin Cities where every person has access to affordable and sustainable homeownership. However, setting these programs up will take time.
It is our hope to see both of these programs in place by spring 2024. As details are finalized, we will update this page with helpful resources for all interested parties.
