NACA is well positioned to achieve this transformative neighborhood stabilization program in partnership with cities and towns.  NACA has an unprecedented performance track record over more than 30 years with more than 75,000 closed mortgages and a foreclosure rate of 0.00012 (about one-hundredth of one percent) with over 90% of the homeowners being people of color.  NACA is the go-to organization for affordable homeownership particularly for people of color. NACA is well established in the minority community with people telling their relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others that NACA is the place to go for affordable homeownership.  This is reflected with more than 15,000 people beginning the NACA process each month and the massive participation of between 10,000 and 20,000 people attending our three to five day Achieve the Dream events. 

NACA provides its unprecedented homeownership programs in all fifty states as described below.

Housing Counseling

NACA is the largest and most effective HUD approved counseling organization providing between 20% and 30% of the total housing counseling in America.  All of NACA’s homeownership programs include NACA’s comprehensive housing and financial counseling for both homebuyers and homeowners. NACA provides comprehensive documented supported comprehensive counseling for both homebuyers and homeowners.  NACA continues to provide homeowners who need assistance from a trusted sources in working with and obtaining affordable solutions from lenders and servicers.  NACA’s role is to advocate for the homeowner to keep them in their homes with an affordable mortgage payment. 

Homebuyer Purchase Program

NACA is the brightest light in reversing the history of racism and exclusion in providing affordable homeownership for people of color. NACA’s purchase program provides a solution to address the major barriers in the housing market to affordable homeownership.

Learn How NACA Is Reinventing Mortgage Lending
  1. Limited savings; 
  2. Unaffordable terms;
  3. Restrictive underwriting; and
  4. Racism and Biases.

Homebuyers access NACA’s Best in America mortgage as described below.  All homebuyers are welcome, with the focus on low-to moderate-income people and people purchasing in low-to moderate-income areas. NACA has $20 Billion committed to this mortgage with $15 Billion from Bank of America on the following extraordinary terms without consideration of one’s credit score:

  • No Down Payment
  • No Closing Costs
  • No Fees
  • No Mortgage Insurance
  • Below Market Fixed Rate

The NACA Mortgage can be used for a wide range of property and transaction types.  This includes the following property types: Single-Family, Condominium, Multi-Family, Mixed-Use Properties and Co-ops. The types of transaction types are the following: Pre-Existing, New Construction, Manufactured/Mobile Homes, and Modular Homes.

HOT-PHA (Section 8/Housing Choice Voucher)

The Homeownership Through Public Housing Assistance (“HOT-PHA”) program is a transformative opportunity for public housing authority Section 8 or Housing Choice Voucher (“HCV”) recipients who aspire to become homeowners through this innovative initiative, homebuyers can combine their HCV with all the benefits of NACA’s Best in America Mortgage, including a below market 30- or 20-year term mortgage to purchase a home. This is an ideal program for families to transition out of long-term public assistance into affordable homeownership and build significant generational wealth.

The Payment Standard approved by the PHA, which is currently paid to the landlord, goes to the lender to pay the homebuyer’s monthly mortgage payment. This enables homebuyers to own their home mortgage debt free in 20 years or less, ensuring long-term financial independence. It is a groundbreaking program that incurs no additional cost to the housing authority or government and enables families to transition from housing assistance to homeownership.

Learn More About HOT-PHA

CITY ONE-DOLLAR HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAM

The One-Dollar Homeownership Program is an unprecedented partnership between NACA and cities and towns across the nation to create affordable homeownership for low to moderate income homebuyers in underserved communities. Community residents can purchase a vacant house or lot from the city for only one dollar. NACA will provide financing for any necessary repairs/renovations, or for new construction through NACA’s Best in America Mortgage.

This is a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization program that addresses a myriad of intractable issues in underserved neighborhoods. It increases the tax base; it revitalizes communities with increased greater investment in property improvement; increases participation in the community and school system; and fundamentally addresses the crime issue. It is well established that the most effective crime fighters are homeowners who do not tolerate issues impacting their homes or neighborhoods. The One-Dollar Homeownership Program creates a critical mass of homeowners in a neighborhood to achieve this transformation.

Cities, towns, and quasi-government entities own many vacant homes and empty lots taken for tax delinquency, code violations, or other circumstances. In fact, they could take ownership of many more if they had an effective use for these properties. The One-Dollar Homeownership Program is the answer. These government owned properties are sold to community residents who wish to revitalize neighborhoods through affordable owner-occupied homeownership. This program eliminates the developer’s significant overhead and profit as the properties are directly transferred to a homebuyer. NACA and the homebuyer work directly with local contractors to complete the work instead of the developer. All the properties will be affordable for low- to moderate-income homebuyers. Owner occupancy is a requirement and includes a 10-year deed restriction and a security lien to prevent a home from being flipped for profit, or a land trust to preserve affordability and provide funds for maintaining the community while generating reasonable equity building generational wealth over time.

Learn About The One-Dollar Homeownership Program

NACA’S NEW CONSTRUCTION HOMES

NACA Homes are primarily modular new construction that are affordable and beautifully designed with high-quality standards built in a controlled factory environment. NACA Homes are priced less than half of other properties with high quality standards currently being sold on the market. These modular homes are not manufactured homes. They are factory built and far exceed manufactured homes and HUD Code requirements and can be produced on a large scale. The estimated purchase price ranges from $110,000 to $150,000 with a mortgage payment from $750 to $1,100 depending on property structure, current NACA below market interest rate, land cost, site preparation, location and transportation.

The variety of NACA home designs would blend in with the existing communities including porches, multi-story houses, garages, etc. (click here for a catalog of the property designs). These affordable homes utilize innovative materials and building techniques, such as modular, panelized, and other building types that are able to stand up to severe weather conditions, and are tornado and hurricane resistant, far exceeding the HUD and applicable state building code standards. The NACA Home can be built on a lot purchased through the One-Dollar Program or a lot owned or purchased by a homebuyer. The mortgage payment will likely be lower than their rent and even more affordable with government assistance.

Example of how this is possible:
Purchase price: $130,000 for a three bedroom and two bath 1,400 square foot including building cost, foundation, and site preparation.

  • No land cost:
    City sells the vacant property to the homebuyer for $1.
    Savings: $5,000 to $50,000+
  • No developer overhead or profit:
    Savings: 25% – 50%+ of the property cost
  • Low-cost high-quality factory built modular housing:
    Savings: 10% – 20% of the building cost (e.g., $85 per square foot)
  • Reduced utility costs using structured insulated panel construction:
    Savings: 75% of monthly utility costs

HOMEBUYER PURCHASE & RENOVATION PROGRAM

Homebuyers can purchase a home and have funds available in a rehab escrow to revitalize properties and make necessary repairs after closing. Homeowner’s unable to live in the property during the renovation do not have to make a mortgage payment during the first six months of the mortgage after closing. The future mortgage payments do not change since the impact of six months mortgage payments added to the loan is eliminated by permanently reducing the already below market interest rate by an additional .375%. NACA’s HAND department provides the homeowner with ongoing assistance and coordination throughout their renovation process and completion of repairs as described below. The HAND program allows homebuyers to compete with cash buyers and investors who would either flip the property at a much higher sales price or turn it into a rental property with high rental rates. HAND will:

  • Educate and work with a homebuyer throughout the renovation process.
  • Creating a scope of work and rehab budget.
  • Identify and estimate the cost for the required repairs and renovations.
  • Work with a homebuyer’s property inspector.
  • Work with a homebuyer to identify eligible contractors to work with, focusing on local contractors.
  • Working with homeowners in selecting and contracting with contractors.
  • Administering inspections and disbursing payments to contractors for completed work.
  • Communicating regularly with the homeowner’s lender supplying regular inspections and project updates until all work is done, per the terms of the rehabilitation agreements.
  • Providing on-going assistance during the renovation process through renovation completion.

HOMEOWNERS – REFINANCE & RENOVATION

Existing low to moderate homeowners can access NACA’s Best in America mortgage to refinance their property, with or without an existing mortgage, to access funds for important repairs and necessary renovations. The repairs must address significant issues, such as code, safety, health, and structural concerns. Email [email protected] to request more information about NACA’s Refinance Renovation product.

HOMEOWNERS – HOME-SAVE PROGRAM

NACA started its’ Home-Save Program way before the beginning of the mortgage crisis. In fact, the mortgage crisis was not a surprise to NACA. NACA’s CEO, Bruce Marks, testified in Congress on September 12, 2000, as one of the first to sound the alarm of the coming mortgage crisis with the resulting financial devastation and huge cost to the taxpayers. NACA had been preparing for this crisis and was ready to serve the many thousands of homeowners who were devastated by the greed and irresponsible practices that led to it.

In April 2007, NACA saw many homeowners seeking assistance, looking to refinance, but most homeowners could not qualify for refinance, property values were in decline (people were up-side-down in their loans) and their income could not qualify for the amount of loan they needed. NACA decided that we would position ourselves between the homeowner and Servicer to advocate for the Affordable Payment (restructure.)

NACA is America’s largest and most effective organization in providing affordable solutions for homeowners with an existing unaffordable mortgage payment. This has been achieved through legally binding agreements with the major lenders/servicers and investors to provide affordable solutions. NACA has contracts with all the major servicers wherein they have agreed to a fixed rate, permanent solution for homeowners when they are delegated to do so. Homeowners save hundreds and sometimes more than a thousand dollars on their monthly mortgage payment by permanently reducing interest rates to as low as two percent and sometimes, even reducing the outstanding principal to achieve an affordable mortgage payment. NACA’s 144 American Dream Events nationwide set the standard for providing same-day affordable solutions for many thousands of homeowners at risk of losing their homes.

For homeowners who are not granted a permanent solution or no solution at all, NACA continues to advocate. Homeowners are educated to advocate for their solution by calling their local and state politicians, insisting on their help and intervention. HUD Certified Counselors work closely with homeowners to call and escalate their case with the leaders of their lenders and servicers to obtain an affordable solution including a payment plan, a modification, a disposition option as an alternative to foreclosure.

RENTAL HOUSING PROGRAM

Rental housing advocacy and counseling has never been more important than during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Families struggling to keep up with rent and utility costs were often living one emergency or misstep away from losing their housing. The country faced a double crises of historic proportions: a global pandemic and an economic downturn that left millions of people out of work and one in five renters behind on rent.

Over recent years the rental crisis took a different turn with institutional investors such as Blackstone, Invitation Homes and other predatory landlords buying many thousands of affordable properties and charging exorbitant rents. This both creates a shortage of homes for purchase and an affordable rental crisis. The tight inventory leads to unaffordable home prices and rentals giving these predatory investors the leverage and perfect storm to increase the cost of rent leaving tenants with no place to turn if they are unable to pay their rent.

Renters nationwide struggle to find homes to purchase or pay for the ones they are living in as rental costs are soaring, surpassing a median of $2,000 a month in most cities around the country. This has a disproportionate impact on lower income renters who typically already spend a greater part of their income on their rental housing thus leaving limited funds for essentials such as food, health care, education and transportation.

NACA understands that housing is connected to every aspect of having a quality life and opportunities including racial equity, education, health, economic mobility, housing stability. Housing affordability is essential for better health, higher educational, and longer lifetime income opportunities. Even before the pandemic, the country was already facing an affordable housing crisis. Marginalized and lowest-income people were already being squeezed adding upward pressure on demand for affordable rental properties.

NACA’s Counselors were ready to help then and continue to help low to moderate-income renters who are struggling with their rental situation. This counseling includes education on finding the right unit or house, understand the rental application process, understand tenant’s rights in the face of discriminatory practices and the eviction process, connection to rental assistance and affordable housing resources, referrals to legal aide agencies and connections with community resources, referrals to legal/mediation services; emergency housing or homeless prevention services and other social services for basic needs.

NACA Counselors can provide comprehensive tenancy counseling to effectively: Through housing stability counseling, NACA Counselors work with renters to have a realistic household budget, improve their household financial capacity, have access to housing and non-housing resources, understand their rights, and are prepared for a safe and sustainable housing that meets their needs.

NACA commitment to advance solutions to make homes affordable to low to moderate income people also involves aggressive advocacy. NACA is contacting many thousands of renters nationwide who are being exploited by corporate and abusive landlords. This organizing brings together renters with common landlords and issues. The tenants with NACA’s support can advocate for more affordable rents, better services and the opportunity to purchase their current rental home or others.