By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Elkins based Home Ownership Center appeared before the Tucker County Commission during the Commission’s regular meeting. Loan Originator Chris Vance represented the nonprofit at the meeting to discuss the programs offered to Tucker County residents through her organization. Vance said she had been in communication with Tucker County Commissioner Fred Davis prior to appearing formally before the three Commissioners.
According to Vance, the nonprofit has been in business for 25 years. Vance said even though the organization has been established for more than two decades, many still do not know they are there to help. “We’re like a well kept secret,” Vance said. “Nobody seems to know about us.”
Vance said she was addressing the board to let the people of Tucker County know what is available and that they are there to help new home owners. According to Vance, the Center offers a wide variety of services to new and prospective home buyers. “We are a nonprofit organization,” Vance said. “We offer credit counseling, credit advising, budgeting services and we do a lot of lending for low income families.”
Vance outlined one of the programs the Center offers. According to Vance, the no down payment program is designed to assist low income families. “We have programs that have no down payment,” Vance said. “We have programs that are for very low income people. The program right now has about a 4.5% interest rate and that program is for families that make about 50,000 a year. So we can get them into houses that accommodate them well for a price that they can afford.”
Vance said the Center offers several programs that offer no down payment as well as some that can include closing costs on the purchase of a home. “With our programs, we have several that have no down payment requirement,” Vance said. “We have the USDA Rural Development Program and it does not have a down payment at all and closing costs can be financed in with that program.”
Vance said that her organization also offers services to higher income residents as well. “For those with higher incomes, a family of one to four qualifies if they make less than $110, 650,” Vance said. “So that is pretty substantial for our area. So it covers most people.”
According to Vance, the Center also works with local banks to assist with down payment loans. Vance said the loans are at about a 5% interest rate and have a 7 to 10 year length. Vance also said the program can usually assist most anyone who does not qualify for one of the Center’s other no down payment programs. “We partner with local banks as well with down payment assistance,” Vance said. “So for example, we partner with Citizens Bank of West Virginia and we work a lot with the loan agents here to get down payments for their customers. They are loans, not grants.”
Vance said the Center also works with local schools to provide financial education to local high school seniors. According to Vance, they inform the students on the impact of credit scores on more than just loan worthiness, but also how a person’s credit score can impact job prospects, insurance premiums, rentals, utility deposits, cell phones and other parts of their lives. Vance said the students were also informed on budgeting, purchasing a first car and how student student loans affects the students’ futures and that the students’ chosen careers would supply a sufficient income to not only pay their loans without the loan becoming a lifetime debt, but also provide them with enough to sustain themselves . “We also do a lot of education,” Vance said. “This past week before last, we were at Tucker County High School. We presented financial education to high school seniors…to educate them on what the real world is like financially when you go out into it.”
Vance said the Center as part of their high school education program, have banking partners instruct students on such banking matters as writing a check, managing a bank account, how not to rely on cellphone apps exclusively. According to Vance, the Center have several customers who come in that do not even have checks anymore because of modern technology and the use of debit cards. “We have local banking partners who presents the banking aspect of financial education,” Vance said.
In response to Commission President Mike Rosenau’s suggestion that adult education in finance and banking would be of assistance to many residents, Vance outlined that when someone initially enters a program at the Center they are given a one hour class where a credit report is pulled and a housing advisor goes through the credit report in its entirety to ensure accuracy and if it isn’t inform the client of how to dispute inaccurate information and make the report accurate. Vance said the class also informs clients how to budget to reduce debt and ideas on how to raise low scores in order to qualify for a loan and purchase a home.
Vance also outlined the Center’s credit counseling services. The services, according to Vance assist potential home owners with not only finding their credit scores, but working to make them better in order to get them into a home. “We also do credit counseling,” Vance said. “So we have services to be able to help people find out what their credit scores are and then move towards getting credit improved if it needs to be or move towards home ownership if they are in that credit range where they can move towards that.”
According to Vance, not only people wishing to buy their first home utilize their programs. Vance said that some clients just want assistance with establishing a budget to keep them on a financially responsible track.
Vance said anyone interested in utilizing the Center’s programs can contact them via phone at 304-636-9115, the Center’s website www.hocwv.org or at the Center located at 2276 Randolph Avenue in Elkins.
