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May 16, 2002

NACA inks 200m deal with Fleet Bank

By Lara Sukhtian

At 30, Sonia Diaz has a house of her own. She will move inthis month with her son to a house on 24 Virginia Street inDorchester and she's as excited as ever.

"I'm thrilled. I never thought this could happen to me," saidDiaz. "And the great thing is my mortgage is less than the rent Iwas paying at my old apartment and I have a lot more space. Ieven have a garden."

Last week, The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of Americaand Fleet Boston announced their first new homeowner through theNACA and Fleet partnership.

The lending agreement provides NACA with 200 million for whatNACA chief executive officer Bruce Marks calls the "best mortgageprogram in America."

"I would have never been able to it without NACA," said Diaz."I simply couldn't afford to buy a house on my own. They made itall possible for me."

The lending program is geared to meet the affordable housingneeds for working people so they can purchase or re-finance owneroccupied single family homes.

"We're all about neighborhood stabilization," said Marks. "Ourhousing consultants are experts at navigating the minefield ofthe mortgage process. We develop trust with the homebuyer and weknow what to look for."

Marks makes a promise to his clients that he always keeps.

"If you stick with NACA, you will become a homeowner," saidMarks. "We don't take the cookie cutter approach to mortgagelending. Everyone is different and we work one on one with theclient on their specific issues and needs."

This program in particular has some astounding features.

"No appraisal fees, no closing costs, no application fees, noprivate mortgage insurance, and no down payment," said Diaz. "Andthe whole process just took a few months. And now I have a homeof my own."

According to Marks, mortgages will be available throughoutMassachusetts and Connecticut. As a further result of thisagreement, NACA will be establishing new offices in Springfieldand New Haven in addition to its existing 26 offices throughoutthe US.

"At a time when the state government is pulling back from itscommitment to provide affordable housing for working people,"said Marks in a statement to the press, "NACA and Fleet Bostonhave stepped forward to not just fill the void but provide ahigher standard for both the public and private sector to strivetowards."

Another soon-to-be homeowner attended the May 8th pressconference.

"I've always dreamed of having a house of my own and finallythat dream came true," said Vivian Jones, the second homeowner ofthis agreement. "Last June I started cleaning up my credit. InNovember, I went to the NACA workshop. In December, I wasqualified and assigned a housing consultant and I closed in May.Now how can you beat that?"

According to Marks, 98 percent of all applicants are approvedwhile the standard in the market is only 40 percent.

"Because we do all the work upfront," said Marks. "It makesthings easy for the banks. We save our clients money and wecreate goodwill in the communities that we work in. And all ourservices are free."

"The way it's normally done, people find the house they wantand then get the mortgage approval," said Marks. "We do it theother way around. We get the approval then we go looking for thehouse. We deal with the sticky issues before. Not after."

The group's agreement with Fleet comes as banks in the GreaterBoston area are finding their share of the home mortgage lendingmarket increasingly shrinking as mortgage companies now dominatewith more than 70 percent of the lending market.

Fleet entered into an agreement with a coalition of communityorganizations to make 14.6 billion in affordable mortgages,business loans and other community investment programs.

This article is reprinted here for non-commercial,educational, fair use purposes only.