Harrisburg City Council Policy Work Session 8/28/2024

is

5:36 p.m. I would like to call our

policy work session to

order Mr trale could you please call the

role Miss

Daniels Miss Davis present Miss

green Mr Jones here miss rolls Mr

Rodriguez Miss

hours present uh please note

councilwoman Ross and councilman

Rodriguez are excused this evening they

had prior commitments vice president

green and councilwoman Daniels are

supposed to be joining uh

virtually so our topic this evening is

home ownership um we learned of a

program sort of two different ways a

current employee shared um an ordinance

from New York New Jersey uh related to

this program um and then councilman

Jones was also um interested in learning

more about this program so we've met

with the city of nework New Jersey to

discuss the program to discuss their

roll out um so we thought we would have

a public conversation uh for residents

and members of the public to learn uh

more about this homeownership

opportunity um within our

city so we will have discussion this

evening we are joined by uh NAA

Representatives virtually I believe

there are two gentlemen joining us

virtually and we do have someone present

this evening um hopefully she'll be able

to chime in as well so we'll begin with

the home buyer and renovation program

sure sure I can talk are you even hear

me okay great um hi my my name is Bruce

Mark sorry

um uh act actually remote um but I

wanted to be a part of the meeting to

answer it question we we get into it so

on the purchase

Rehab um so just to give a a little bit

of background is that what we have in

that so we we are the largest housing

counseling agency in the country we do

30% of the council in the country there

1500 Council ages we're just one and we

do

30% and I would uh say and probably HUD

would say too that we do the most

comprehensive counseling so everything

that we do in counseling is documented

counseling when someone says to us you

know what their income is we ver verify

with pay stu um tax returns all that

asset um we also um so we do we do the

counseling uh we have a state of there

system where uh let's we called the

member portal so the clients are able to

go through that and do a lot of the work

themselves uh including access to bank

data and we have actually the best

mortgage in America no down payment no

closing cost no fees always had a bull

market fix rate so today's rate is 5 and

a qu% so 30e fix 4.75 so 20e F and you

can

buy uh when you talk about the purchase

Rehab we're probably we're one of the

only entities none of the major lenders

do it now where where you do the

purchase Rehab uh where you have funds

after the closing to do the renovation

of the

properties and so we uh we do that that

used to be a program that lenders do all

the 203K

program we do it it's an important part

of what we do uh We've expanded the

program we now as you know with the city

of nework we have the $1 program and we

do that in Salma and Li Ohio and other

places where where um the city they own

a lot of properties um sells the

property to a home buyer for

$1 and we either renovation finan

renovation or the construction there is

uh big article in uh in um The New York

Times a couple days ago about about

issues of property insurance and they

highlighted the new construction that

we're doing of the homes in dma Alabama

uh where we do these you know beautiful

modular home very affordable getting

them built for 85 bucks a square foot

and you add in transportation and those

things and you're selling them for

between 140

$169,000 um so we're doing that we're

also working you know a lot of the home

buyers are um people who have a who have

a section A housing choice

uh they use that payment standard for

mortgage payment and that works you know

that's a a fabulous program where you

know in less than 20 years often 15

years uh that home owner who

affectionate owns the house

outright uh a lot of other things that

we're doing but uh let me end with that

um we're thrilled to be able to work

with you um as they said we're we have

47 offices Nationwide we do lending in

every part of this

country and we have a very good

relationship with a number of lenders

but the primary one is Bank of America

where we have $15 billion death on the

bested America horses and as good as it

sounds it's even better uh we don't we

uh you know never consider anyone's

credit score we uh look at the payments

that they control focusing on the last

15 years and we've done over 75,000

mortgages we've forclosure rate

0.0012 about 100th

of% and we've helped over 500,000

homeowners save their home primarily

during the work crisis we continue to do

that

today um but the more questions you ask

the more in depth you get get into it

the the better it

sign brighter it sign so let me stop

with

that thank

you did I lose anybody okay

sorry no you didn't we're still here we

can still hear

you I believe there was a was there a

video or another okay

yeah we we we have if if there is time

we we have a short video that we can

present about

the so should I move forward with the

video sure that's

fine okay

one second right

screen uh what why he's doing

that he's he's

coming

okay in the United States today there

are many challenges facing the housing

market property values and interest

rates are high there is a shortage of

available homes for sale on the market

home developers are not meeting this

demand fast enough additionally there is

a

rental crisis with big Wall Street firms

and Multinational investors buying

thousands of homes and renting them at

extremely high

prices consequently the lack of

affordable housing in the US is

threatening to widen the wealth

disparity Gap even further as it keeps

hundreds of thousands of hardworking low

to moderate income individuals from

achieving the American dream of home

ownership Naka the leading nonprofit

advocacy and housing counseling

organization has been at the Forefront

of this struggle in fact for four

decades Naka has been fighting for

economic Justice by Reinventing mortgage

lending with America's best mortgage

which offers no down payment no closing

costs no points or fees no PMI at a

below Market fixed rate without

consideration of a credit score Naka has

over $20 billion for its best in America

mortgage with $5 billion from Bank of

America Naka has made over 75,000

mortgages and has a foreclosure rate

over more than 20 years of 0. 0 1 2 or

about 100th of 1% and over 90% of the

Naka homeowners are people of color

moreover through its home save program

Naka is helping individuals in financial

distress stay in their homes for

instance during the financial crisis

Naka modified the highin mortgage loans

of over 500,000 homeowners saving them

from losing their homes however Naka has

not rested on its Laurels after

Reinventing mortgage lending Naka is now

revolutionizing Housing Development

Across the country by combining

America's best mortgage with the next

generation of of modular technology

noa's CEO and founder Bruce Marx

explains when you can build Modular

Homes at the highest standard out there

that's affordable that has to meet the

the state and federal code standards and

far exceeds that that's a game Cher

that's why nacka is partnering with

vantom to accomplish that Nationwide the

way we do that is by building a very

efficient strong thermal envelope uh

using a proprietary technology uh that

we developed it's a panel-based

technology U that has a much higher

insulation value uh it is much stronger

so it's climate resilient uh in in high

forces like high winds uh in hurricanes

and earthquakes it allows us to achieve

really high thermal values including Net

Zero homes meaning homes that do not uh

have any net use of energy off of the

grid we build these homes completely in

the factory including the flooring the

finishes electrical everything you would

typically do on site uh we're delivering

it complete from the factory the only

thing that you're doing on site would be

the

foundation another transformative

program developed by Naka allows home

ownership through public housing

assistance called hot PHA this program

allows participants who seek to become

homeowners to combine their housing

Choice vouchers with all the benefits of

the Naka mortgage this is in addition to

local government assistance to purchase

a home and Own It free and clear in 15

to 20 years Naka has partnered with

cities like Newark New Jersey and Selma

Alabama to make this a reality to

thousands of housing Choice voucher

recipients Bruce Marx explains how

aerosis Maldonado a housing Choice

voucher recipient from Newark is

benefiting from this program because she

has the Section 8 voucher that means

that over a $1,200 a month mortgage of

which she purchased a house for

$185,000 that her payment is $250 about

$11,000 is going to be paid by the

Housing Authority but in 15 years she's

going to have over

$200,000 in wealth the Section 8 is what

supplements the income to allow her to

be a homeowner he took City properties

and hired local black and brown

developers as contractors to renovate

them and then turned them over to new H

owners that once live in public housing

using their Section 8 voucher with the

help of

investor I was blessed SE when I got my

section 8 I dreamed of my house and I'm

even more blessed

that I waited 20 years later to find

more wonderful people and the knocka

program now I'm a homeowner and I'm you

guys don't even know we have five

houses uh that you have so greatly

placed

here and so uh I just want to say thank

you for that for believing in the

community to to take a risk in the city

of Selma and so for that we support the

efforts and for that we're going to make

sure sure that we transform this entire

neighborhood and neighborhoods behind it

surrounding it and make sure that people

who once did not think that they become

a homeowner now have a realistic

opportunity becoming a homeown the

product that NAA brings to Selma is a

product that we can share across the

country and so weize to use our sday

voucher uh to help our voucher hes come

home owners MAA has reinvented mortgage

lending and now we're going to reinvent

affordable housing development for

working people Nationwide in

[Music]

America thank you for sharing the video

um I didn't want to neglect Miss Chapman

who is present with us um in council

chambers hope you wouldn't mind

introducing yourself and sharing a

little bit about your

work can you yes you have to pull it to

you and speak directly into it thank you

okay hello can everyone hear me so my

name is Selma Chapman I've been in

Harrisburg for over 30 or 25 years now

um my family is originally from here we

moved away um happening to be when I was

born but I been here for over 25 years

and um my role with NAA I was a mortgage

loan originator with them and um

currently I'm a NAA Advocate but in that

position I had the opportunity to watch

individuals from a low to moderate

family become homeowners individuals

that would have traditionally have been

overlooked get the finances that they

would need to buy a house um if you

heard the CEO Bruce Marx say earlier

we don't look at the credit score to

hold it against um the individuals that

come to us we look at it um for other

reasons that is based on character based

lending so if anyone has anyone ever

heard of character based

lending okay a few people of course you

have um he actually purchased his home

with NAA but um for those who don't know

character-based lending it's when we

look at the last two years of your bills

have you been paying your rent on time

have you been paying your cell phone

bill on time have you been paying your

cable bill on time the bills that you

have everybody has bills every month

have you been taking care of those for

the last 24 months and if the answer is

yes and your uh your funds are there

which means you have steady employment

for the last 12 months then our answer

is yes to give you the financing to get

your dream home so um just to wrap it up

I held that position going as a mortgage

loan originator going through bank

statements W2s and

1099s looking at what the individuals

came to with um to us with and then

getting the opportunity to say okay this

is the counseling hat this is what you

need to do to get where you need to go

um and I'm open to answer any other

questions because as the CEO mentioned

as well we do over 30% of Hud's

counseling Nationwide as well so we're

not only a mortgage loan company that

give the fin gives the finances for the

houses we are counseling the individuals

that come to us to make sure they have

everything to get qualified so we do

both I have maybe two questions I'm not

sure who um may be best to answer them I

was just curious so we saw Salma we knew

about New York um what how many other

cities are you operating in I don't know

yeah so I'll be glad to answer that

question this is the

okay um well we we we have presence in

the 50 states right so we we do the NAA

program is available everywhere in the

country uh talking about the pro the hot

PHA program the section A or housing

Choice Voucher Program uh we are doing

that probably now right now in 20

different cities I can remember right

now Dallas Houston Newark

Sala um multiple cities in uh

Florida and uh on on so that's that's uh

already working in many places and

obviously we're working with all housing

authorities to implement the program

because they really the they don't need

to change anything about what they're

doing right now the only thing that

would require them is in instead of the

the portion of the payment what is

called the have uh shouldn't go to the

buyer should go directly to the lender

that's the only thing we ask them to do

in that program uh talking about the

buildings the new homes right now uh

we're working with Salma because there

is a commitment for 100 houses there uh

there are 10 already inside in more

coming uh and with the city of nework uh

Newark right now is uh we're already

working on the rehab piece because it's

not only new construction but we also as

you saw before uh we do a purchase Rehab

so so the city has some properties that

that were really bad shape so they were

given for $1 through a lottery to

different home buyers and we are

financing the the purchase and Rehab

project for those homes uh that could

anybody can do that but the but the the

what is very specific about what we're

doing with new workk is the city is

giving those those houses for a nominal

price but any NAA member any NAA

participant can go find a house or do a

rehab project we always finance that we

have an Department dedicated to that

specifically to work on inspections and

Rehab projects as in San Antonio to help

our home buyers to do that I hope I

answer your question yes thank you um my

second question was I but I think you've

answered it uh through the work with the

housing authorities I was just curious

um what responsibilities the cities have

in um working with

you yeah so yeah as you say this it's

two different parts right the the

housing authorities is mostly about the

voucher so to allow the convert the

rental voucher to a purchase voucher uh

with the cities is uh the the two parts

many cities have a down payment

assistance programs gr programs that can

help a low and Moder income home buyers

to increase their purchase power right

because sometimes they qualify for a

mortgage but the payment they qualify

for is too low for the reality of the

market so when the city canot for those

down payment assistance programs uh that

definitely help uh uh the home buyers to

achieve home ownership the the second

part is the cities own loads land or

houses right the tax deeds and all the

the type of properties that normally go

to developers to

investors but uh in in partnership with

those we can give access to low and

income home buyers to those properties

rehab those properties when there an

existing property and or uh build uh um

a new home and what uh we want to do it

right now is through the these mod homes

right that is a this efficient

technology and this and we can get

houses much uh cheaper value than

regular STI build and and other systems

so they they as you saw in the video

they they have the highest standards and

we can get those houses the the idea

that we want to do is to keep the cost

per square foot at about

$85 which is a lot lower than than what

you can find out there uh we can get

that through volume and other

efficiencies and and and Naka until now

has been off paying in advance for those

funds in order to put on on the those

lots in Selma and then obviously we

break up the the funds once the house is

sold but uh that's the idea that the

partner with the with the cities have

access to those loads have access to

those homes that in rehab not not to us

directly to the the home buyers right

and help more LMI borrowers to become

homeowners and and and the only thing

that I would add

to what dieo is saying on that is that

you know you know what we want is we

want a a you know we're not we're not

we're just coming to you and now with

the L of demand for the ma

program so we want to be able to do this

SC so what we've

done

yeah sure I can stop okay any better

now that's better thank you thank you uh

so so what we want to do is like um and

I apologize

when what was the last event we did in

New York it was in that was last year in

September more or less in in New Jersey

in Newark or they or we just went uh two

weeks ago to New York New York right

right so so so there's a lot of demand

for the program we you know did it we I

just did a three-day event in

Newberg uh and they asked us to come

there there they they did the Outreach

and this is a three-day event where in

one day someone goes through the four

steps of the process complets it in one

day so they do the home bu Workshop step

one they upload their information

document step two they meet oneone with

NAA counselor step three and then they

meet with the NAA mortgage specialist to

be qualified for the NAA mortgage or

your next step so you know there's a lot

of places that we'll do a home buyer

workshop and then you know you got to do

more stuff or here a seminar We Believe

getting the job done so we're doing this

so we have I don't know whe what kind of

s of have an attitude or a perspective I

guess the perspective is if you build it

people will come and so I started an act

of 40 years ago I could only say was a

real success five years ago in

2019 when we started doing these events

that we call achieve the dream event

which is what I was um just describing

and in we would get like in New York

City Chicago Los Angeles Atlanta Miami

we get over 20,000 people coming through

these fed Day events and and it was all

Word of Mouth people telling their

family their friends their co-workers

were home ownership who come to with no

marketing with no media and that's when

we can really say for a great success

when when the people that when people

tell other people they love and they

trust for affordable home ownership you

come to NAA and that's our perspective

that if you build it it's a respect for

people and people will tell others come

to NAA and that's what's going on and

that's what happened five years ago and

that's when I can say boy we are really

a

success when we do that and we don't

rest on our Laurels we're always looking

to do it better but one of the

criticisms of that is I think it's

always important to look at saying

what's not working and make a negative

into a positive so one so people would

always recognize Nack best in americ

mortgage everybody want this mortgage no

matter what your income is what your

wealth is you you can be a millionaire

you still can't get a mortgage better

than that so everybody wants a mortgage

but it was taking too long for people to

get through the process because you know

the counselors everyone who's

uncertified counselor we have the most

uncertified counselor they would you

know they'd be taking three hours to put

in people's information uploading their

documents well we said what's a better

way of doing that putting the member the

client in charge

so in a very userfriendly way with a lot

of support to saying you are best

positioned to upload your information to

upload your documents and so we set up a

state- of- Ard system for the clients to

do that and that allows us to deal with

you know you know we have 3.7 million

members we have 15 to 20,000 people

starting our program every month when

we're able to handle that

capacity thank

you thank you I'm going to open the

floor uh to my colleagues who may have

some questions for you before we move

forward with our meeting agenda I'll

begin with uh councilman Jones Thank You

president Bowers um I guess I can change

what I was going to do far as asking

questions but first I want to thank the

community for coming out um um I hope

this really pequs your interest but uh I

just want to tell you how I came about

this program um last year at a juneth

event um they had a series of different

rooms where a lot of information was

being spewed I happened to step into

this room and I heard uh Miss Selma

Chapman and her pitch about this and

immediately my wheels started

spinning and um we talked we conversated

also with uh Mr Rob Lawson um this is a

vision how I Envision what I heard and I

just want to share this with the with

the community um in layman terms so we

can get what's happening here um one of

the ways that I would love to Peak

Interest and say do you want a house for

a dollar right everybody does right but

there's a way that that has to work um

um this going to this is not something

that um is just going to be so on us

this is a partnership with h our city um

and that's why I ask some of you Mr

Hudson thank you for coming um uh Miss

Gloria Martin Roberts you as well um to

lay ears on this because what I seen is

we live in a city right now and I'm

talking about

Harrisburg we have a lot of dilapitated

properties um that

are kind of eyes Source in our

communities would some would may

consider to be

slums we can do something about this and

I think this program is something that

can help us I'm also studying a um a

methodology it's called um eliminating

crime by environmental

design so if we look at certain sections

of our city bright lights manicured

Lawns receptacles on every corner the

crime rate is really really low but if

we look into some of the areas where

we're dumping trash and just graffiti

and all the other things that go on

Ling I mean you you name it it's

happening and and that's the way people

begin to treat their

neighborhoods so if we look at something

like this we

have um and and and Mr Davis can correct

me um if I'm if I'm mistaken here um we

have a land bank um we have a lot of

lots on those land Banks but I look at

some of the the properties that we that

are pretty beat up right and we are

scheduled for this year and correct me

if I'm wrong again to knock down about

33 of those

properties um but I don't know if we're

going to get to that number uh but I say

before you do that with a program like

this partnering with them um to offer

our

community an opportunity to have home

ownership I was fortunate enough to

purchase a home free and clear no

mortgage and that's a great achievement

to me it's a building block to

generational wealth and I think we all

can use that um a lot of the times in

passing we can see now and this is no no

um disrespect to any families because

we're all struggling but a lot of the

times when things happen we have to go

to

GoFundMe you know um owning a home can

at some point you may be able to into

that Equity either purchase more

property send a child to college or you

know in my retirement here is I could go

ahead buy me a nice vehicle right uh but

I think passing this um something on

like this to our families what does this

do for the city of Harrisburg we're

cleaning up neighborhoods we're putting

a family into a home as a

homeowner um we are eliminating the

blight right and in in our communities

and we're also putting this property

back on our tax role see that's the

benefit for the city um yes we like

affordable housing and um a lot of these

constructions that are going up in the

city but how about home

ownership that's obtainable in in in for

for our people so I think this is

something that is really I'm passionate

about and um I know my colleague sharing

this passion to to help change the

direction that our city is in the

condition our city is in right now so I

think um again I believe in this program

we've looked at it we've looked at I'm

sure we're going to continue to learn

more but I just wanted to be able to

share this with our city we wanted to be

able to share this with our city um and

and see what these possibilities are and

I think um this is something that I I

would say Innovative for

us though it's been being done other

places but I think this is a a piece of

the solution to changing our communities

and um again creating home ownership you

know cuz uh for me with bills now um

instead of every month of me paying rent

I have a little window I can hold off a

year or two before I pay anything other

than you know the everyday bills and

using that uh character lending is is

great to me because most people can't

get a regular mortgage a typical

mortgage because they don't have the

credit score they don't have the

collateral to put up and this is a way

that you are able to do that and I'm

sure you heard what those prices of that

mortgage would be so I would also ask

I'll explain this one more thing so if

we have those lots and the modules that

they were talking about if we able to

get you to purchase those lots for you

or You' be able to purchase those lots

through this um program that Module home

and you can correct me if I'm wrong will

be placed there um Environmental

friendly U materials where there's no

mold there's no asbest I mean these are

things cuz we we have a lead program now

in the city um a lot of our

infrastructure is old um again to me

this is a no-brainer um so I would ask

um that you

explain to the community how some of

what are some of the

steps to make sure that they keep the

home and there's also a way that they

can make money by living in these units

I want to try to expound on some of that

so I just wanted to explain a little bit

of how I envisioned it and I hope that

made some sense to everybody um but so

feel free to answer that or share you

Bruce doesn't better okay well I'll

say and um before Bruce and Diego

because I I know that they'll be able to

give the answer for this but the average

person that's renting their that's

paying $1,200 a month on rent after it's

all said and done they're spending $1.2

million on rent and like Mr Lamont Jones

said that money is going out of the

window so if we can give that money to a

mortgage for 30 years 15 years 20 years

and then have that Equity to pass down

to our kids that's building generational

wealth so instead of paying someone

else's mortgage and having it go to

another Community it can come back to

our houses in our families so that's the

first thing but also putting partnering

with NAA is going to do good for our

economy because the construction

companies that are being used is going

to be decided by the city and the

construction workers is going to be

decided from the city and those are

going to be residents more than likely

from the city so they're going to be

paid for the work that's putting money

back into the economy that's putting

jobs into the economy and it's also

beautifying Harrisburg like Mr Jones

said so if Bruce marks and Mr uh Diego

can speak on that like uh the money that

would be coming into the community

because that is providing jobs as

well yeah this I mean you two already

exrain it that very well but yeah you

obviously when you the homeowners will

pay taxes property taxes so that helps

to the economy uh the we need local

contractors when we're going to build

homes to to do the foundation the

hookups and all these the the grains all

these Services obviously need to be

provided locally so created more jobs

more influx uh and and when you have a

strong uh somebody was talking about

security uh when you have homeowners uh

communities I mean the strong

communities that they they take care of

their their neighborhoods right they

don't want crime they they are the first

ones to make sure that they're SEC they

have secure neighborhoods so I think the

answer is that home ownership right give

it opportunity to the if somebody can't

pay rent why they cannot pay a mortgage

it's the same thing exactly the same

thing that's what we verify in our

counseling process right uh we we

qualify our home barers for a monthly

payment we don't qualify initially for a

loan amount that that flues depending on

the interest rate and the taxes

Insurance Etc uh but we start from where

they pay on rent and where they able to

pay on time from their regular income if

they want to qualify for a higher

payment uh we want to see that they have

the the monthly ability to save the

difference if they can do that they can

pay the rent and save the difference

every month then they're going to be pay

the paying the mortgage on time in

addition to that we have a uh the na

program has 10 steps uh and the last

step is the post purchase assistance we

we have a program that's dedicated only

to help our members call the members

membership organization if they have any

hardship after they purchase their home

and they may get ill or lose their

Employments or a divorce everything all

the everything that happen so we have

many Tools in this program to help them

to stay in their homes that's the reason

our uh ratio for closure is so so so low

because that doesn't happen and that's

the result of the

counseling uh the post purchase

assistance and everything else that we

do Doo right and we're already close

over

77,000 mortgage loans so so we already

understand what it means to keep

somebody in a home um I don't know if if

I need to I I went out of the the topic

or or you want me to uh expand on

that okay thank you for your

response I'll move to our building and

housing committee chair counc woman

Davis do you have any questions thank

you president Bowers no I don't have any

questions at this time it sounds like a

really great

program okay thank you and councilwoman

Daniels do you have any

questions no not the moment thank you

okay thank you uh so next I I think we

talked about it a little bit but I'm not

sure if any of our participants wanted

to expand or expound on uh the program

imp mentation successes that you've had

um yeah well Robert Lawson is here if

you don't mind coming up to speak about

the success of the

program and your experience with

NAA lights there this is how it works

all right not used to seeing it from

this side

but um so this is something that has

been uh near and dear to my heart and

and several uh things I I want to speak

about with this program um number one I

I believe in home ownership and

providing a chance for uh people to to

purchase a home I believe in economic

empowerment and I believe in providing

um opportunities for marginalized

communities

this program um as it sits looks to one

make the ease of of home ownership

something accessible for for most people

um the economic empowerment aspect of it

is we're looking at bringing in some

local contractors and we have to expand

the capacity to do this work so that

means we're creating jobs and then three

we're going to be affecting

disadvantaged communities three ways one

by providing the homes in areas that

have been neglected through uh

disinvestment redlining and U our our

our local brain drain we're going to be

putting those people and keeping them in

these in these areas we're also going to

be providing um the opportunities for

these people to start businesses and

start working on these very homes that

they could actually purchase um

themselves

um we have seen Redevelopment in the

city that has happened to us in the form

of

gentrification um we've seen it happen

for us in in the sense of people create

what's supposedly uh affordable housing

but it it may not truly be affordable

for the people that need to to move in

there and sometimes if it is Affordable

it's not safe um so that's leading us to

saying why don't we uh do Redevelopment

with us where we can take the people and

and invest in them and let them invest

in their

properties I personally went through uh

the program uh with NAA before I met

Miss Chapman and and uh I I had to do it

online without a living breathing person

in front of me I had to kind of wing it

by uh going online um it wasn't an easy

process but it was a doable process um I

was at a position to where um I was not

financeable through most banks they

would have turned me down they would

have uh walked me away but with dealing

with uh Na I was able to purchase um my

first home um something that provides me

with a good bit of equity as we're

seeing property values rise am across

the country and it's going to keep

Rising as rates come down I was able to

take advantage of that boost in my

property's value uh we have individuals

right now who are paying rent um paying

more than they would in the mortgage uh

many times for a home that's not even

livable um and and as property values go

up they're not getting the benefit

actually they they they're losing

because if they try to leave that

property that's unfit they can't afford

to move into the next place because when

the properties have risen the rent has

risen so now the only way to get out of

that house is to uh basically go default

on your rent so that you can save up

enough money to move into the next place

which could put you in a precarious

situation and we may see you in a tent

right downtown here if you don't pay

that

rent i' like to see situations where if

our people decide that they're in that

home they're at they're they they're in

a home and they say it's time for me to

move uh my cousin lives down south and I

want to move with her I'd rather you

walk away with a check than walk away

with with a bill and a hazard so the

success that I've seen with this program

is that it it's worked for my life um

helped me purchase a home when I went

through the purchase there was a um a

home inspection where they pointed out

every little issue that could go wrong

within the home and they required that

the seller fix it for me to purchase the

home which is going to be one of the

things that will help people not fall in

the same position that they are in when

they're renting the home inspector will

make sure that it's a solid house um

making sure that you're on a firm

footing when you when you move forward

so that's why this is a passion project

for me I was so happy to hear that this

is going to make it to the floor

um this is how we buy back our blocks

right here

[Applause]

yeah thank you for sharing I guess I

just have a follow-up question so uh

Mr Mark spoke about the achieve the

Dream Events um what type of local

events have occurred or are occurring or

how do people get involved with learning

more about

NAA yeah does uh um I don't know if he

still is is connected we know uh so let

me try to answer that so uh the ne Dream

Events are basically uh three days

events where we do all the process in

one day or two maximum uh so people can

come and do the whole process instead

the the program starts with a home bu

Workshop so they do those workshops at

the EV they they have the ability to

upload it all the information and

documentation in in one of our computers

and then meet with a counselor and and

go over all the information and if

everything is ready the we have the

mortgage specialist inside that qualify

people right pre-qualify the people for

the alone

they can leave the pro the the event

with their qualification and go and find

a house um so in the past we were doing

those only in the major cities right La

nework New York Etc Miami but now we we

are moving to go more with the m she is

needing with the home buers needles uh

other other cities that's the reason we

just did it in New York and we were we

have done about 17 of those is here I'm

not sure about the exact number and and

we plan to do more so that's a a great

way to start the program in a new

location uh before the event we try to

do some hom workshops so people start

preparing for for for the event and then

we come come to the event and we we

bring the staff the equipment and

everything else over three days normally

Friday Saturday Sunday and we try to get

many as many people qualify as possible

and it does I cannot do it at def well

we follow up later uh we we have the

ability to do uh most of the process

remotely right these days we do uh video

counseling and all those things through

some the same way that we're doing right

now so um that's that's that's the way

it works and and it's it's great to to

get a large number of people ready to to

purchas something and and and I can add

to that in the sense of uh

uh all we need from you if you want to

partner with us to do it that would be

great so it's on you and say do you want

that uh we would just need you to uh get

us a

space we need uh an internet connection

of of um of um 500

Meg

uh and uh helps do the Outreach get the

word out other than that

we take care of all the expenses all the

other expenses Staffing

accommodation time all that we take care

of all that uh and if you want us to

have a presence in your city because I

think face to face is also important to

do counseling not just not not just

video uh if you find location we can St

that up as well so uh I'm not known as

the most diplomatic person so uh let me

say this way if you want us you're going

to work in the partnership as good as it

sounds is even better and I

appreciate I appreciate all the

questions and I really appreciate what

city counselor Jones said uh and that is

the best crime fighter is a

homeowner and you know and the big

problem we're seeing out there is you

see these Wall Street firms coming in

and their buying up property they're

buying up single family homes and

they're renting them out at exorbitant

rent and those brands are are are

providing wealth for already ultra

wealthy and stealing the dream of

affordable homeowners chip and you know

KN is in the Forefront of fighting

predatory lenders like we and these are

the new Predators out there but also a

constructive approach to really provide

affordable home ownership on the best

terms in the country and as you listen

to all the stuff that we're saying I

hope you come away with a understanding

that we cover every aspect of this

process because we've learned from our

mistakes and that is the one aspect that

you don't cover will come and bite you

andite you hard so from the inspection

to the education to the counseling to

the mortgage application to the closing

through the postp purchase assistance

every aspect was covered

and you know and that includes making

sure that that property when someone

moves in does not have any code

structural electrial HB any of those

problems or if they do the money is

there to fix it going

forward thank

you thank

you we're going to move forward with our

agenda um next we we will hear from the

Harrisburg Redevelopment vment Authority

on program feasibil

feasibility good evening council members

council president Brian Davis with the

Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority

all we have known for quite some time

that neighborhood stabilization and

Public Safety uh one of the greatest or

most helpful things that we can

encourage is home ownership in our

neighborhoods so it it really is uh you

know it's been a a given for us in urban

renewal and looking at our most

distressed neighborhoods because that's

primarily what you have your

Redevelopment Authority for is to look

at light um and neighborhoods that

really need the most help um I've I've

been around for a little while

so as context I'd just like to share you

know the city did uh has had experience

in doing home ownership

projects um You Might Recall from the

the mid90s up until the early 2000s the

city had a home ownership opportunity

program and what what the city did was

it acquired the worst houses okay some

of the homes that were the private

sector wouldn't pick up

it they would just sit they might rest

on the County's repository list because

it didn't sell from the county tax sales

and the City used its cdbg funds

primarily first for the acquisition of

the properties um but then also to rehab

them and then to offer them as firsttime

home buyers first-time home buyers at an

affordable price and the way that was

structured which you

know is you know not too dissimilar from

what you're hearing today is they were

they would partner with local mortgage

local banks that offered mortgages and

then the handful of local banks would

also have first-time home buyer

mortgages that it offer so they would

have that partnership not just in they

first acquiring the properties but then

also renovating them but then also

having a candidate mortgage you know

mortgages for the first-time own buyers

which also included a component of home

buyer

counseling so the model is excellent

from the NAA standpoint and being able

to offer a product to um to our friends

and families who find it hard maybe to

find a conventional mortgage but even if

it's not that difficult for that that

family maybe you know just the interest

rate is much more attractive and so

there's that you a lot of incentives to

help out our residents who want to own

their own homes now my perspective is

going to be more from the you know urban

renewal side from you know what makes

sense and I like to give the example

without taking too much of your time uh

in that you know a lot of us have we we

all have varying degrees of uh tolerance

for risk okay so when we look at our

city the Redevelopment Authority and the

city and always employ because of our

limited resources we have to employ a

process of looking where do we put this

our investment to have the the highest

impact so many times we'll look at

investing our efforts in in and around

neighborhoods that are starting to get

stabilized themselves okay and that's

where we'll also see families interested

and willing you know to invest

themselves and look at houses that they

might want to move into so I guess what

I'm trying to say is for example if if

we look at

if we look

at um up in Allison Hill there's a great

deal of investment right now being

constructed in central Ellison Hill

around Regina and 15th Street right that

lends to a great feeling of of stability

and of safety so if I'm a home buyer or

that I'd like to buy a purchase a home

I'm going to feel very safe probably at

or near that new investment okay and if

we look all throughout Town you'll see

other examples that some places where

you know families may not want to live

because they just don't feel as

comfortable there as they will in

another part of town so it becomes an an

exercise of targeted investment for the

Redevelopment Authority for the city and

where do we put our resources and then

you know you want to have the partner

with the mortgage lender and here kna I

hear has um we understand that they have

also this component in their program

that they call um home buyer and

renovation program right so that in

essence that's correct so for my

understanding and it you know it just

it's it's very familiar to my mind that

uh they are able to pre-qualify families

and then they're able to say well if we

get this house that uh needs a lot of

Renovations you're already pre-qualified

for say $80,000 of renovations to that

house it could be completely renovated

and then at the end of the day you know

Naka will help hold the hand through the

whole process of Iden identifying the

house getting the construction done

having the inspections in place so that

the new homeowner then can move in and

have a sound mortgage um so that's

that's a really good arrangement and

even if it uh so then we we might look

the role a Redevelopment Authority might

play Okay so let's just uh you know for

example we have a 100 Lots right now

that are scattered okay they're not

concentrating one place so scatter you

have that opportunity you also have the

opportunity uh of anything that might be

off the County's repository list of

course H doesn't control that but we

have that Avenue the other Avenue that

um yeah I'm sorry I was trying

councilman council member Jones uh

mentioned was the vacant property

reinvestment Port so that's another

Avenue and the last Avenue that he

mentioned which is is the is the land

bank the Harrisburg Land Bank

which your Redevelopment Authority board

is five of the seven board members so as

far as the mechanics go we can spend

some time outside this meeting talking

about what that looks

like but the opportunity exists and I'll

Circle back around to you one of you

know one of what is our our guiding you

know golden rules when it comes to

stabilizing neighborhoods is that the

more home home ownership we have the

more stable this street is the block is

the investment the challenge for our

city has been

that um

many we we inherited when I came in

2002 um the home ratio of renters to

homeowners was already

7030 and that was in the that was in

early 2000s so 70% rentals in 30% were

home ownership and a large percentage of

that home ownership was um was senior

um head of households 55 and older so

that's what we inherited some 22 years

ago and the market conditions that that

was described to us about how even after

the collapse of the housing market it

the struggle became even more difficult

because the private investors that want

to then rent houses at these high rents

that they get would come in and they

would buy more of the homes that that

were previously home ownership so I

guess I said all that to say yes we have

the the mechanisms and we to you know

have a program like this is

successful um we have challenges that

are built into what we have um City's a

small footprint in the larger footprint

of of Central PA and the Harrisburg

region right so the competition isn't

just internal it's also outside and uh

and for stabilizing neighborhoods and

the highest and best use of residential

neighborhoods for home ownership is a

good

thing thank you um I just have I guess

one question related to the vacant

property reinvestment board at one time

that was the city's or supposed to be

the city's uh sole tool for blight is

that correct well it it was it's been

one of many well of two okay primarily

two uh uh we'd obtain quite a bit of our

home ownership uh houses from the county

repository list so that would be your

Redevelopment Authority exercising its

eminent domain um we would also uh have

amicable purchases so we have a seller

and we would negotiate a price as

amicable and then the vacant property

reinvestment board really is helpful

whenever we have uh houses or land

that's that's owned by someone that's

that's out of out of the City or out of

state or Another Place entirely they

just walked away from the property and

that has the prescribed process from the

Commonwealth the statute calls for a

prescribed process that we um do several

steps that at the end of that you've

been assess in essence done the proper

method for eminent domain okay with your

Redevelopment Authority and it also

clears the title of all and all leans

and encumbrances so that we then have a

markable title at theend end of that

process so yes um that's that's a very

important tool though not the only one

but you know and when we get things off

repository um it it's coming from the

judicial sale in essence and it doesn't

come with the marketable title so we

have to conduct a quiet title work on

each of those which roughly cost $3500

per per

property so that's important and then I

guess I guess that just leads me into

the last thought I I failed to mention

was cost money for us to take take title

to these things so you know I my mind

bifurcates this a little bit in a sense

that uh what Naka does can be still be

successful in looking at what's

available in the private private Market

without your Redevelopment Authority but

if we want to also do merry Economic

Development and neighborhood

stabilization with this home ownership

program or something like it then you're

looking at uh knowing what your volume

is per year uh what your budget might be

for the acquisition and also the legal

cost for that then your carrying costs

but when the city did it before for a

point of reference they did roughly 10

to 12 houses a year between 10 and

12 and when they did the program

before uh the cdbg funds

received um this was the sole

project um they they simultaneously had

a home ownership Improvement

program but it wasn't you know they had

the home ownership opportunity program

that was the r renovation and for sale

for loan okay then they all said so if

you're asking if this was the only thing

that that we did with the money I it

wasn't okay okay I was just wondering if

that was the only if it if it stay PA

internally cuz you know you're limited

by how much we get here so you can only

do so much and then they also the sale

proceeds from those houses would be

folded back into the program that helped

but a lot of times the rehab cost was

$115,000 and families could well would a

praised for maybe 60 or

$65,000 so you knew you were always the

cost to do these Renovations far

exceeded the market value now that was a

long time ago today's market might be

different but you might want to give

some consideration to the fact that even

with each of these houses the worst some

of the worst are going to be you know

6085 maybe

$110,000 depending on their condition um

is my mortgage company going to find an

appraisal for that house in that

neighborhood that's going to support the

mortgage and that that becomes a

challenge yeah so I'm getting a little

bit in the weeds there sorry for tonight

so we can talk about that more

afterwards

okay thank you I'll open the floor uh to

questions from my colleagues they may

have some for you Mr Davis I'll begin

with councilwoman Davis uh do you have

any questions for Mr Davis and the

Redevelopment

Authority hi Mr Davis thank you for

being here this

evening okay so there are 100 Lots out

there right now and are you saying that

out of those 100 Lots

portion of those could be used for this

type of project yeah okay y y okay and

that's based

on what

criteria um I'm I'm making that

statement on my observation that they're

buildable so they're a large enough of a

lot that we could build a house on it

that they're buildable yep the Lots

themselves yes oh

okay and I actually bought a couple

houses

from the judicial sale which is a nice

program um and but you have to bid of

course you know all that um

so how many houses are do you know how

many houses are in that judicial list on

that list right now and are you

affiliated with that list or you just

the Redevelopment Authority deals with

the LW that's a really good question

because in Pennsylvania the counties

control the tax sales not the cities oh

the county y oh okay so here the county

will Dolphin County uh will hold the tax

sales they the upset sale in the fall

and then judicial sale in the spring and

anything that doesn't sell the judicial

that then sits on the repository list

okay it still accompanying that is still

the the judges court order that that

it's free and clear of all needs and

incumbrances so okay so but but so and

uh because of that your Redevelopment

Authority does not hold title to all the

stuff that didn't sell at the tax sale

um we have to strategically decide what

we want to buy have the money to buy it

and then purchase it and then make it

available for development okay y yeah a

really good question thank you no

further questions thank you uh

councilwoman Daniels any

questions um no questions thank you okay

thank you councilwoman

Jones um I don't have any questions at

the moment but I do think um it is

worthy of us uh continuing this

conversation and I think having um some

County people here and I think this is

something that we should try to do

collectively um and find out the car and

just to so you know that we're not

looking at a 100 Lots right now right

this is something we want to Pilot and

and and give it a give it a shot and see

what we can do with this but um and

continue to watch the other uh

municipalities that are doing it so um I

look forward to continuing this

conversation um what would be helpful U

when we meet again was maybe have a

sense from some mun municipalities that

are in Pennsylvania that are that have

the program in it success for and

especially if they have that home home

buyer and renovation program um because

of what I just described part of it part

of it's because of what described with

the county being the the holder of

repository property the tax sale all

that good stuff but um we that would be

maybe helpful for us to and you know if

I'm if I'm correct I don't think they're

in PA at the moment so again let's Trail

B let

let's let us be the leader this

time yes they are not present in

Pennsylvania um I think Lima Ohio or New

York Maybe the

closest anything else are there any

other questions uh for more for Mr Davis

okay see hear none thank you for joining

us thank you

president our final discussion this

evening just uh with solicitor Grover um

just curious based on the discussion if

you had

um any concerns or uh wanted to share

any thoughts on the impact and other

considerations we may want to take into

account yeah I I wouldn't say there's

concerns it's it's a mechanics and it'll

be it would be a very technical

adjustment to what we do in the city

code um from what we have it's about

money at the end of the day in the

budgets that the mayor proposes and the

council approves it's about capacity to

administer the program um and decisions

like

if in a budget if you're administering

new programs are you keeping old

programs at the same time which means

you're expanding capacity or you

redirecting capacity those are for for

for public officials a serious set of

considerations you know if you're

redirecting efforts but this plainly

would be a redirection of the efforts

the city's had in the last I say 15 to

20 years on where we have directed money

um I do not know um

the details of the prior program and the

changes in the Federal Regulations there

may be none that affected or there may

be many that affect it um my general

sense is that the

typical um cdbg funds we get have been

sort of on a downward Arc not just for

us but for a lot of municipalities so I

don't know where we were then versus now

um you know we have been paying off a

debt to HUD now because of a default

from a developer for years and it's

still being paid and you know we have no

choice that it comes off the top of our

grant every year and it feels like every

year I hear this will be the last year

and then there's more more to pay um but

it it would affect it there's a lot of

tools the city has at

its at its at its use that exist um HRA

is different than the L Bank the powers

of the two are different um both could

be implicated in this um I will tell you

our experience with the county records

the City Records on land is that it's

often a really mixed bag about whether

the title is really clear and and some

sometimes it takes a real work to get a

title cleared uh through the court

process it can be done it's just it's

just real work um more often than not

it's outside professionals who do it and

charge a lot of money to do it um but um

we just recertified all the nonprofits

and the municipalities and the and many

of the organizations

the property list of the county last

year for tax exemption purposes and it

was the list is very very challenging um

you know because we we we had to go to

five different sources for our list of

properties and ours in the county

certainly didn't match up um and and so

you know there there is real things so a

focused pilot program sure but I think

you'd have to be Define the target

really well you'd have to commit

resources for personnel and um

operational to get it done I will note

just looking at newars I don't know why

this is they adopted this in

20123 they um took effect January 1 2024

and it has a 2-year Sunset I don't know

why there's a twoyear sunset where after

that they're not allowed to transfer the

property I don't know if it's the third

time they adopted it and they just keep

read adopting it I don't know enough of

the history of it but I looked at it

very quickly um so I don't I I I assume

that means because they're piloting it

just like you're thinking about piling

it and let's see how it goes um uh it

does have a lot of detail in it their

ordinance has a lot of detail in it it

matches up and incorporates New Jersey

statutes so I have no idea what they're

incorporating I don't know if they have

different levels of authority than

municipalities do here um New York is

300,000 people we're 50,000 people um

you know uh and for for example if you

want the the model for modular they

talked about we would have to revisit

the zoning code we'd have to revisit um

the uniform construction code which is

Statewide and see how that how those

codes impact uh a program like this so

is it doable or does something the law

to change to make it doable uh I am

certain there are parts of the city you

would not be able to put modular units

in um and there'd have to be a

purposeful sort of decision made to have

public events to uh have Property Owners

come in and say whether they want that

in their neighborhood as to revitalize

their neighborhood um I think people

that have seen them know that sometimes

modular units are now much uh better

developed than they were 25 years ago um

they're much more common than they were

25 years ago and it is an affordable

route compared to New Brick and Mortar

construction um the uh so those are all

considerations the council would have to

do um and I would say that would make it

people need to look at a realistic time

time timeline to me this is a budget

issue not 202's budget this is like this

is the work to put your ducks in a row

to and Target a time frame you know a

couple budget Cycles through so you have

everything you need you sort of thought

through uh to get it done um and I think

it would frankly take the cooperation of

the council and and the administration

to do that leg work

so thank you and I I think you're right

in meeting with the city of nework we

learned that this was not an

overnight um success at all and it's

definitely a pilot that's why the

twoyear sunset

so okay at this time we will open the

floor for public comment just a few

housekeeping notes before we begin if

you're interested in offering public

comment please state your name and your

address for the meeting record if you

don't feel comfortable sharing your

address please share the vicinity in

which you live within the city you'll

have 4 minutes to share your comments Mr

trusdale will serve as our timekeeper

and I'll begin to my right is there

anyone that would like to offer public

comment hi my name is Brian Hudson uh my

address is actually 41 4741 Great Oak

Lane uh I am the former CEO of the

Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and

I was listening to the knocka speech and

I view it as being another arrow and the

quiver if you will for the city

obviously there's a lot happening uh

around Harrisburg and as some of you

know I'm part of helping some of the

developers Revitalize the city of

Harrisburg Allison Hill is one of the

projects Uptown Harrisburg we're going

to bring affordable rental and we're

actually going to do home ownership on

the hillside so what knock is proposing

is just another arrow I think uh as

councilman Jones said it could be a

pilot if we identify some of the Lots

from the Redevelopment Authority that

are not earmarked uh for development and

those that are earmarked and are not

moving because some want to flip those

properties I would say let's take a look

at those two um to the guys from Naka uh

I just had a few questions about uh

abatement are you pre qualifying them

based on when the taxes do kick in so

that the homeowners can stay in in their

home and I was questions about their

delinquency rate how they handle that

and do they or they sent back into uh to

counseling my last uh message is to look

at partnering with other sources of

capital for instance my uh my previous

company would have some funds that could

assist the city many developers are

applying for grant money called fair to

do some of their projects it goes up to

$500,000 per project so there's a way to

partner uh with other agencies including

dced as well as the county but I think

those play players need to come to the

table but I'm excited by What's

Happening Here in Harrisburg and uh

pleased to be a part of it now that I

have some retirement time on my hands

and this is this is good stuff we are

also looking to redo uh Harris

Harrisburg hous Authority home ho homes

in Hall Manor and I'm hoping to bring

about 30 or $40 million to the table to

restructure some of those homes there so

this is exciting time and I say it's an

opportunity to bring as many partners to

the table that we can do so thank

you thank you is there anyone else to my

right that would like to offer public

comment seeing and hearing no one anyone

in the middle

section oops good evening uh charot

Plains 2545 North Forth Street

Harrisburg

PA I uh remember my first home I bought

in Harrisburg was a dollar house it was

a 17713 boow street

and I bought my mother down from New

York and I said mom look I got this new

house and she said really she looked up

in she looked up there was a big hole in

the ceiling so she could see the sky and

she said what the world are you going to

do with this um but it was my first home

I had young children um on a fixed

income single parent and um The Pride

you feel in having owning a home for one

is is amazing and it was a real

neighborhood like we

developed the sense we had you know

quality of life was great we had

neighbors that looked out for each other

you know the old thing where your kids

were outside you don't have to worry

about them so I'm really excited about

what this program could will do and

could do um the one thing for me

actually the the was that we had to find

our own Ren people to come in and

renovate which was a little difficult

because not having the experience

knowing what to look for that kind of

thing so I think there is an opportunity

with this program to have Renovators um

who are in inside of the program working

to make sure that you're not getting

ripped off would be the one one piece I

would caution on but you know to buy a

house for a dollar you can't beat it and

then turn it into your your dream home

so I certainly hope that there something

we can bring back to the

city thank you is there anyone else in

the middle section that would like to

offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone to my

left no

one good afternoon my name is Valar

Smith and I live in Allison Hill uh area

I also own my own home

there and there was a lot of things I

heard tonight was exciting to me because

it was a little rough for me uh because

I had to clean my credit

up and here you know I heard tonight

that you got all a lot of things that

you didn't have to

do and then U um I'm give a I'm going to

give a little bit of advice when you do

get your home you know make the best of

it and not just the best of your own

home but the best of your neighborhood

that calls for work cuz people are some

people are not going to like you because

you want to live you know in a better

neighborhood but you can't afford a

better neighborhood so you got to make

the best of what you

have and I go out every day not every

day but sometime I go out more often

than I want to and I pick up paper I do

whatever I write people's up yeah I do

that and you know because this is our

city and if this is how you want to live

then you got to make an effort to show

people this is what you want out of

life and you know I'm just excited to

see and I hope that like the president

said going forward is you know some work

that

you know people take advantage of it

because I did I took advantage of it and

I own my home now I've been there 27

years so I I just want you to know that

you can do it because I did it and I did

it by myself I wouldn't have never

thought I could do it by myself so I'm

just going to encourage you to don't

give up when you try this cuz it's not

going to look like it's going to work

for you but you got to make things work

I'm just going to give you those

encouragement words because I many times

I wanted to say I wanted to give up but

I didn't I couldn't get mine for a

dollar but trust and believe I wished I

could have and I just want I just wanted

to ask

um yeah I wanted to ask you that uh I

wrote down some stuff here you have a

website right there's a

website now are you going to buildt in

Harrisburg or you going to have some you

got programs that will work for people's

in

Harrisburg okay that's

another do you want to respond on the

microphone that way everybody can hear

you her responses to your questions the

website maybe the address yeah I would

encourage everyone to go to naca.com

that's naa.com to find out all of the

information about the program tutorials

or testimonies excuse me testimonies we

also have a YouTube page as well um just

type in na ACA on YouTube you'll find

our Channel or just go to our website

and then your other question was

workshops so um we have workshops in

Harrisburg uh I was in charge of doing

them now they're in Philadelphia but

online virtually we have workshops every

week um hopefully we can bring the a

cheve the dream event here and then we

can qualify hundreds and hundreds of

residents like we did in surrounding

states so you know because that's the

only reason why asked that because it's

some

people's probably in here once they're

home and they probably want to get

started right away you know their

children is growing up so we in the

process we can't be waiting till later

on cuz the agent

yeah okay yep right away you can sign up

right like when you leave this meeting

just pull out your phone go to naa.com

and click on home buyer Workshop you can

sign up right away okay and the other

one was um I'm sorry if I gotta my

messing with people

but do you have to be a firsttime home

buyer so it is a firsttime home buyer

Workshop um program but if you own a

home already as long as you have it sold

before you close on your NAA home then

you're fine I ask these questions you

just can't have two at the same time

that's the thing I know people are not

asking these questions and by me going

through this process these are questions

that need to be asked yes okay

and

okay that's it the next one is for the

city okay um years ago I was promised

that houses was going to be built next

to me where I have empty

lots are they still going to do anything

since we're talking about billing I mean

that would also bring the neighborhood

up a little bit you know and they

promised me that Stephen Reed did okay

God bless us

so wow yes God bless his soul I I can

speak for the current Administration but

we wanted to um explore the topic a

little bit more this evening so I can't

directly answer that question okay uh

but perhaps this may spur the

conversation again okay and that's all I

have okay

yes do you mind stating your name and

your address yes my name is Maurice um

for the program um for the brothers and

sisters who have may have traveled down

the wrong path at one point in time in

their life younger or

older will they have the opportunity to

redeem their s and the hard work that

they're putting in to better their life

for the better their children for their

family or whatever will they be able to

be afforded the opportunity to

participate in the

program yes to answer your question we

don't do background checks because that

has nothing to do with have someone can

pay their mortgage or not um let's say

somebody had a foreclosure in the past

or they had a car repossessed as long as

it wasn't within the last 2 years years

when it comes to something Financial

then we don't care if it was within the

last two years we'll have to put you on

an action plan to do better but two

years or older we don't care and then

criminal anything criminal is none of

our business okay

thank thank you

please you may want to say there there's

some more questions I

think and I'm original excuse me do you

stating your name into the

microphone Katherine Williamson and I'm

originally from Philadelphia PA but I've

been out here like 25 years and what the

gentleman asked

was um about um Second Chances okay now

living in Philadelphia born and raised

um I bought a house for a

dollar um but due to some unseen

circumstances

I end up losing it okay but it was a

little different and actually I went

through the nacka program I have my ID

and everything here um in 2021 but um

like the lady said over there don't give

up it's a hard process but I gave up I

did I gave up but I still have my ID

and I paid

rent okay

and my rent is really really high it's

really high um and it's not comfortable

where I'm at I live out Union

Deposit um and the rent that I

pay I want to own my home you know I

don't I'm not and I'm going say it to

everybody it's a lot of times where I'm

not able to pay my rent on time but it

is paid I'm not backing no rent but it

is paid so what would you guys cuz when

I went through this program I did the

whole Zoom I did the whole Zoom

situation I went through the program

just to um because in Philadelphia with

the dollar program doll the Dollar by

the house for a dollar we just went out

and we found vacant properties then we

took it down to City Hall they

researched it to see you know what all

back taxes or whatever then they gave

you that house and it was your

responsibility to fix that house up but

it was yours you got the entry key and

the deeds and everything but like I said

to some un you know unseen

circumstances I lost it and now I'm

trying to rebuild myself here

um I lost my son my only child um in

22 um and I went through this program in

21 so I just wanted to find out like the

gentleman said about Second Chances how

because it is people that want to own

their own homes that may have been

through stuff still going through stuff

paying high rent but want to own their

own

homes what can be done how can we get a

second chance program here and I just

want to say to you um and to my brother

Maurice I am that example I know it can

be done and like Miss Val said don't

give

up these programs like this um we're

going to have to we're going to have to

push through some stuff yeah but you

you're going to have a a support system

with people I mean we if we believe in

it you know this is is what's going to

you know help people get through it um

as you learn more about it going through

the process you have some other people

that went through it um you have a lot

of knowledge around today and um just

stay encouraged that's what I would say

to anybody thinking about Second Chances

stay encouraged okay thank you and

excuse

me I will say that until this vein comes

into play with Napa

NAA there are things things you can do

to own a home here in

Harrisburg I went through the firsttime

home buyers

program years ago I think it was in 2000

or

2001 through the fair house um through

um fair housing program that firsttime

home buyers

program and I was able to get buy my

first

home the Community Action Center helped

me

get my credit

together I didn't have to pay I don't

think I had to pay any closing

costs and um I I was able to purchase a

very nice home that was affordable in in

a nice

neighborhood and I still have that home

so until this takes place and takes rot

there are places you can go and things

you can do now you have to participate

with the program there are counselors

there that will walk with you step by

step to help you get your credit cleaned

up they did that for me I I'm I'm not

talking about what I hear I'm speaking

about what I have

experienced and it didn't take long

either they helped me get my credit

cleaned up they helped me to get

preapproved right here there are

programs right here in the city um you

can talk to the community the action

center phfa has that program also

Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency has

that that program that can help you um

get in a position to get your first

mortgage okay so it's a little bit of

footwork that you have to do but there

would be somebody there to walk with you

all the way through to

success so that was my two cents about

that so we have it right here we have

opportunity right here in the city for

you to own a home okay so thank you

thank you did you have a comment you

wouldn't mind sharing your name and your

address for the meeting record good

morning everybody um my name is Dante

tuer I live 1529 all

Dame

um I own my house but to get y a little

bit history on me I'm from

Philadelphia convicted murderer their 20

years they parole here to Harrisburg and

I hit the ground running I don't use

crutches or none of that and I mean

crutches as I

don't I don't rely on nothing like I

know better I know what I'm doing is

right and I know what I supposed to be

doing so that's what I mean by crutches

like I don't get high I don't drink I

don't do bars clubs and none of that but

I own my house and I'm all for

Harrisburg like I'm all for fixing the

city helping the city in any way I can

and I just I just started dealing with

Lamont councilman and I want to help

Harrisburg I don't want to be one of

them guys that just taught I really want

to help harisur like I went through a

program called CEO to help convicted

felons get jobs and housing and all that

but I really want to help

Harrisburg I I own my house so I'm a

part of this city man I pay taxes and

I'm here to let y'all know anybody in

audience

CS people I'm here to

help I'm picking up trash I'm doing

whatever I'm helping y'all move your car

shoveling snow for the elders whatever

y'all need help

with that's what we want to

do that's all I want to

say I

got okay did you have a comment

yes hi um my name is Johan and I live in

714 chair in Drive um I wanted to know

how can we follow up with these updates

uh for this program if there's any other

meeting that we can join or website

beside hers but about the dollar

situation any progress how can we follow

up so again this is our very first

discussion of this program and sharing

the information um it sounds very much

from the discuss that we will need to

have a part two uh before proceeding but

I think the visiting the nacka website

just to learn more about their

organization would be the first

step are there any other final questions

comments or

concerns okay well I'd like to thank

everybody for joining us this evening um

the time is 709 p.m. I will entertain a

motion to adjourn so MO is there a

second thank you

you