Bay Area
Free Money for Black Home Buyers
If you’re buying a house, did you know there’s a pool of $50 million waiting to help Black residents with down payments?
You’re invited to hear a mortgage specialist who will tell you how African Americans are cracking open these funds. On Saturday Sept. 14, 2019, come to the Berkeley NAACP chapter’s general membership meeting where Michael E. Rutland Jr. will explain an exciting array of down payment assistance (DPA) grants.
Rutland, a native of Richmond, CA., is a loan originator with United Security Financial Corporation. That’s a Black-owned mortgage company that has partnered with the trade group for black real estate brokers to make $50 million in assistance funds available for low and moderate-income African Americans.
Rutland will discuss a variety of ways to finance your next house at the September monthly meeting of the Berkeley NAACP. He’ll also answer your questions. This event is free and open to the public. The meeting runs from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and will be held at the Harriet Tubman Terrace Community Room, which is located at 2870 Adeline Street (just two blocks from the Ashby BART station) in Berkeley.
United Security Financial, which is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, sources home loans for buyers all across the United States. Meanwhile, its partner, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), has advocated for Black home buyers to enjoy “Democracy in Housing” for 73 years.
One of the biggest obstacles for any would-be homebuyer is coming up with the big nut of a down payment. Yet few African Americans probably know that they might qualify for free or low-priced money from one of more than 2,500 down payment-assistance programs across the country. The number of these programs increased by 10 percent between 2010 and 2016. That’s according to an analysis by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or Freddie Mac.
Last February, United Security and NAREB announced that a federally-chartered government agency – LBC Funding, LLC – had committed $50 million to help low- and moderate income home buyers get over the proverbial hump by fronting them the all-important down payment.
Rutland, who is flying in from Utah specifically to address the Berkeley NAACP, will talk about DPA plans that his company offers.
They include programs for first-time home buyers such as the Eagle Connect Fund and Freedom Choice, and programs that don’t have a first-time buyer requirement including the Freedom Plus and Freedom Advantage options. All of these provide the buyer with between 3 percent and 3.5 percent of the house price up to certain limits.
Of course, prospects must qualify. Generally, a person needs a credit score of 620 or better. Some of the programs impose an income limit based upon the area median income (AMI).
Rutland will even discuss what his company calls a Zero Down Payment Mortgage. “[That’]s a great option for clients that have limited cash on hand,” he writes in an email. “We understand the need for affordable housing is greater than ever before.”
Black homeowners are becoming an endangered species. After World War II, federal policy and the so-called G.I. Bill subsidized millions of white military veterans to buy homes but granted only a trickle to Black vets. More recently, race-based predatory lending led to minorities being foreclosed on in disproportionate numbers after the 2008 mortgage crisis.
The Berkeley NAACP, under chapter president Mansour Id-Deen, brings housing issues to the forefront. The organization and its housing committee address disparities, injustices and solutions with city commissions as well as residents and other stakeholders.
Recently, for instance, the Berkeley NAACP partnered with activist group The Friends of Adeline to turn back an effort by the City of Berkeley to evict an elderly Black veteran and homeowner whom a court had ordered to make more than $700,000 in city code renovations.
The NAACP also was among organizations that helped pay the man’s legal and administrative fees.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
Bay Area
State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference
California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.
By Carla Thomas
California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco.
The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.
“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.
ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.
“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.
More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.
Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.
“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.
“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.
“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.
By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”
Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”
Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.
“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”
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