Salt Lake City (6 September 2005)--The hot Salt Lake housing market has shut out many working families; but not true for the Bairds and the Durans, the first two families helped recently by the Community Development Corporation of Utah (CDC) and a new program of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). CDC is one of only a dozen organizations around the country that has an agreement with HUD to administer the Asset Control Area program, an initiative designed to help school teachers, police officers, and low-income families realize the American dream of homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods in the process.

“This is the greatest day of our lives!” exclaimed Amber Duran when she learned that her family would have the opportunity to purchase their first home. Amber and her husband Justin are the parents of two boys, ages four and one. Justin works full-time at a car wash and never imagined he would ever be able to buy a quality home for his family. "We had started to look for a home to buy,” explained Justin, “but the homes we could afford were not in any shape to be lived in and we couldn't afford to fix them up. We are thrilled to be able to buy a home that has already been fixed up. " The Durans meet the income eligibility requirements to purchase a renovated ACA home from the CDC.

Not unlike the Durans, the Bairds are excited about their new home in South Salt Lake. Douglas is a physics and math teacher at Brighton High School. He and his wife Laurel have an eight month old son, Thomas. Because Douglas is a teacher, he and his family were immediately eligible to buy an ACA home, although they would also have met the income eligibility requirements, too.

The first nine ACA homebuyers (including the Durans and the Bairds) consist of two teachers, two police officers, and three households with a disabled family member. While eligible homebuyers can earn up to 115% of the area median income, the first families to purchase ACA homes have incomes that range from 25% to 96% of Salt Lake's area median income.

Mortgages are affordable for these families because CDC purchases HUD-foreclosed properties in targeted areas within Salt Lake County for 50% of their "as is" value. CDC rehabilitates the homes, using donated materials whenever possible to reduce the cost of repairing the homes. The sales price of ACA homes is their fair market (renovated) value. Yet, in nearly every case, CDC can improve the home, while keeping its cost below the improved, fair market value. The eligible buyer secures a mortgage for the cost of the home and HUD retains a temporary “enforcement note” or soft second mortgage for the difference. HUD forgives the enforcement note after one to three years, allowing the buyer to realize the equity. Keeping the mortgages low helps low-to-moderate income working families purchase a home and enables them to stabilize their housing costs. In addition, neighborhoods are revitalized when home ownership rates increase.

The CDC has agreed to purchase and renovate up to 100 homes annually from HUD. CDC bought its first ACA home in April of this year. To date, CDC has purchased 35 homes and nine have been repaired and resold while 26 are currently being rehabilitated.

The Community Development Corporation of Utah (www.CDCutah.org) is a Utah non-profit corporation founded in 1991 with the mission to develop affordable housing in order to promote strong families and stable neighborhoods. To date, the CDC has aided more than 1600 families in more than 125 communities to become homeowners. The CDC is a full-service agency and its programs include new home construction, homebuyer education and counseling, down payment assistance, and adapting homes for people with special needs.

“Making the dream of homeownership a reality for working families is our core business,” says Darin Brush, CDC Executive Director. I couldn’t be more pleased about our progress so far.” In celebration of the first two ACA to be rehabilitated and resold to eligible families, CDC is hosting a “Welcome Home!” ceremony for the passing of the keys to the new homeowners. The public and media are welcome to attend the event at the Duran home, 434 South Navajo (1350 West) in Salt Lake City at 9:00 AM on Thursday 8 September.