The Heart of Wichita Lender’s Pool Mortgage Program will be announced at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 7, during the City Council meeting. The newly created lender pool is not available in other Kansas cities and is a result of the high level of cooperation from local lenders to respond to housing needs in Wichita. Local Lenders, Community Housing Services and City of Wichita have collaborated to create the Heart of Wichita Housing Fund.
The purpose of the Fund is to enhance homeownership opportunities and create incentives for neighborhood revitalization in targeted areas by providing affordable mortgages primarily to low and moderate-income families who otherwise cannot obtain financing at affordable rates and terms. The program will assist in providing an additional mortgage mechanism to assist people interested in living in the targeted neighborhoods to be homeowners rather than renters at reasonable interest rates. The lenders will capitalize the initial pool at $1 million.
Lender participants
Capital Federal, INTRUST, Security Savings Bank, Hillcrest, Emprise Bank, Commercial Federal, Fidelity, Central Bank & Trust
Target Area
Boundaries are located in the Heart of Wichita, which is the same as the homeownership down payment assistance currently offered by the City: I-235 to Hillside, Pawnee to 25th Street North, and the remaining Local Investment Area including Hilltop and Planeview.
Eligible applicants
First time homebuyers that do not qualify for secondary market or local bank portfolio programs due to poor credit or lack of credit but who demonstrate likelihood of mortgage payment compliance.
Community Housing Services (CHS) will originate the applications and refer the applications to the lender pool committee for loan consideration. Each bank will contribute a pro rata share of the mortgages provided. Mortgages will be 30-year with interest rates 1% over Freddie Mac rates on date of closing. Loans will be provided and serviced by CHS until approximately $500,000 in loans have been provided, the loans will then be sold to the secondary market and the proceeds revolved back to provide additional mortgages.
The City of Wichita Housing Services Department, utilizing our existing HOME Program and Maintenance Reserve Program, will provide down payment assistance and maintenance reserve program participation.
The Heart of Wichita initiative is a combination of housing programs offered by the City of Wichita to assist those people currently living in the "HEART OF WICHITA" or willing to live there, in purchasing homes or fixing up the homes in those neighborhoods with a variety of loan programs.
For more information on how you can apply for the Lender’s Pool Mortgage Program, contact Community Housing Services at 685-2656.