Alliance Makes Home Ownership Affordable

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A local alliance has made one family’s American dream come true.

NBC 4’s Mike Bowersock got answers on how foreclosed homes and local families are getting new leases on life.

Abandoned and vacant homes, which are known to reduce the property value of neighboring homes by $7,000 each, have been slowly getting new owners.

A vacant, foreclosed home on the city’s North Side now has an owner thanks to a new program called the Huntington Homeownership Alliance.

Brooklynn and Philip Hahn and their 19-month-old son, Charlie, are calling the house home. Just a few months ago, the move wouldn’t have been possible.

The Hahns are the first of at least 100 people who will be able to purchase homes here in Central Ohio through the alliance, made possible by The Columbus Housing Partnership (CHP) and Huntington National Bank.

They were able to get a 5 percent loan from Huntington as opposed to a conventional loan, which would have been between 6 and 7 percent interest.

The loan knocked almost $200 off each monthly payment.

The bank also only required 3 percent down instead of 5 percent.

Those small differences made homeownership affordable.

The 3-year, $10 million alliance was launched just three months ago to provide housing counseling, foreclosure prevention services and affordable mortgages to Central Ohioans.

These innovative 30-year fixed-rate loan products, together with the federal government’s $8,000 tax credit for people who have not owned a home in the past three years, could create over 100 new home owners in our community.

“Home ownership strengthens our neighborhoods and provides families with a way to build wealth and stability for their future,” said Council President Michael C. Mentel. “The alliance is a clear sign of Huntington’s commitment to Columbus and the people of this great city.”

Go to http://www.homehelp.org or call 614-221-8889 for more information.

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