Wells Fargo, Los Angeles, NeighborWorks America Celebrate One-Year Anniversary of NeighborhoodLIFTSM Program
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), one of America’s leading community
banks; the City of Los Angeles; and NeighborWorks America, a national
non-profit organization which creates opportunities for people to live
in affordable homes and improve their lives, today celebrated the
one-year anniversary of the NeighborhoodLIFTSM program
by announcing 184 Angelenos have purchased a home through the initiative
and $4.3 million of down payment assistance grants are still available
for eligible home buyers who apply through Neighborhood Housing Services
of Los Angeles County.
The NeighborhoodLIFTSM program debuted in Los Angeles
a year ago, offering $30,000 down payment assistance grants for
qualifying program applicants to use towards the purchase of a home.
Qualified applicants also agreed to complete home buyer education
training administered by a HUD-approved counselor; have annual income
not exceeding 120 percent of the median income for the area; and earn
their down payment assistance grants when they buy and reside in an
eligible home for five years. Mortgages available through the program
are not exclusively offered through Wells Fargo.
“Thanks to Wells Fargo’s generous grant donations and community
programs, Angelenos from San Fernando to San Pedro can own their own
piece of the City and help to revitalize their neighborhoods,” said Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The Los Angeles effort – which to date has made $5.4 million in down
payment assistance grants to local homebuyers – was the first of several
LIFT programs Wells Fargo and NeighborWorks America would introduce over
the course of 2012 as they joined community leaders across the country
to help housing markets recover from the foreclosure crisis.
“Wells Fargo’s funding of the NeighborhoodLIFTSM program
and its work in collaboration with NeighborWorks America speaks to the
passion our bank has for investing in and being part of programs that
help communities succeed,” said John Sotoodeh, Wells Fargo’s Los Angeles
region president. “While no single program will ever reverse the effects
of the country’s foreclosure crisis, we’re proud to continue doing our
part to support the recovery by helping promising homebuyers achieve
ownership success in a sustainable and responsible way.”
In addition to the 184 Angelenos who have purchased a home through the
program and received part of $5.4 million in down payment assistance
grants, another 51 applicants have a contract to purchase a home in Los
Angeles with the help of another $1.53 million for down payment
assistance.
“Every family that has received this incredible down payment assistance
has had the chance to start life in their new home with more disposable
income,” said Lori R. Gay, president and CEO of Neighborhood Housing
Services of Los Angeles County. “Access to these funds provides life
changing opportunities for the many home buyers we’ve shepherded through
the process.”
Additionally, the NeighborhoodLIFTSM program in Los
Angeles has allocated $1.5 million – as part of the overall $15 million
local program – to local community development initiatives, such as
GRYD, a Gang Reduction and Youth Development; MEND, West Angeles CDC;
and East LA Community Corporation for food, health and nutrition
programs in Boyle Heights; Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative for
economic development; and LA’s Best for after school programs.
“This unique public-private collaboration is already making a tremendous
difference for local neighborhoods,” said Drew Collins, Wells Fargo Home
Mortgage Pacific Region Manager. “The NeighborhoodLIFTSM program
is providing real help for families who want to buy and live in a Los
Angeles home.”
Los Angeles is one of 20 housing markets benefiting from a total of $170
million that Wells Fargo has committed through its LIFT programs
(NeighborhoodLIFTSM and CityLIFTSM).
To date, this includes delivering $89.9 million for down payment
assistance grants and $11.8 million for non-profit housing counseling,
homebuyer education, and local program support.
Wells Fargo introduced similar programs in additional California cities
including Sacramento, Oakland (among nine East Bay cities), and plans to
expand to the Inland Empire in 2013. LIFT programs currently have down
payment assistance funds available for prospective homebuyers to
purchase and live in homes in the following housing markets: Los
Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston,
Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and
Tampa. Prospective home buyers can learn how to apply at www.wellsfargo.com/lift.
About NeighborhoodLIFTSM
The NeighborhoodLIFTSM program is a
collaboration between Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; the Wells Fargo
Foundation; NeighborWorks America, an independent non-profit
organization; and local non-profit organizations. The NeighborhoodLIFTSM
program is designed to provide sustainable homeownership initiatives in
cities affected by the housing crisis. A video about the NeighborhoodLIFTSM
program is posted at www.youtube.com/wellsfargo.
The CityLIFTSM program is designed to provide
down payment assistance and homebuyer education programs in areas most
impacted by the financial crisis. The program was developed in
connection with the 2012 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice,
and is a collaboration between Wells Fargo Bank N.A. and NeighborWorks
America.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified,
community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets.
Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides
banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial
finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com),
and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s
customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than
265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the
United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on
Fortune’s 2012 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells
Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help
them succeed financially.
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