74 Business View Magazine - September 2016
supplemental mortgage loans ranging from zero to
two percent interest to ‘layer’ with that first mortgage
financing. Underwriting guidelines, developed by the
Department of Community Development, govern the
process making a path for moderate income families
to affordably purchase their homes.”
John Murphy, another Project Manager, further ex-
plains the Department’s additional housing services
for potential, lower-income buyers: “Unlike traditional
market-rate borrowers, sometimes low to moderate-
income borrowers may need additional time and
guidance in becoming ‘mortgage-ready’. Some first-
time buyers may not even believe that they can have
homes. The Department of Community Development
has housing counseling services available to work
closely with potential buyers to help counsel them to
improve their credit, lower their debts, and save for
down their payment and closing costs. Our certified
housing counselor spends time working with those
borrowers to meet the families’ goal of owning their
own homes. And sometimes, we have to cultivate and
develop them because they don’t always come knock-
ing at the door. It’s not always self-evident that a per-
son will be able to purchase a home.”
Another of the City housing initiatives in Southside is
the Piedmont Rental Project. “This is a project element
where the City partnered with a non-profit organization,
Durham Community Land Trustees (DCLT), to rehabili-
tate some small City-owned houses and duplexes that
are now rented to veterans,” says Johnson. “Between
The Lofts affordable rental developments and our
completed homeownership development were a row
of boarded-up and vacant houses that have been styl-
ishly rehabilitated into permanently affordable rental
units dedicated to below 30 percent area median in-
come households who are often the hardest popula-
tions to house. Many of the first tenants were home-
less veterans.
“In Southside, the City used a U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designation
called Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area
