The City’s “Home in the Heights” First-Time Homebuyer Program Receives $321,000 Infusion
Silent Second Mortgages Help Low- to Moderate-Income Families Realize the Dream of Home Ownership

SAN DIEGO -   The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency has approved the allocation of an additional $321,768 to fund the “Home in the Heights” first-time home buyer program, which provides silent second mortgages for eligible buyers of homes within the City Heights Redevelopment Project Area.

Participants may qualify for a silent second loan amount of up to $30,000.  The term of the “Home in the Heights” loan is twenty years, with principle and interest forgiven if the property is owner occupied by the participant for the term of the loan.   The loan can also be combined with a $40,000 loan offered by the program administrator, Community HousingWorks, through its Home Ownership Opportunity Program providing a combined loan of up to $70,000.

Those eligible for the program must be either a resident within the City Heights Redevelopment Project Area, a City of San Diego employee, police officer, firefighter, teacher working within City Heights, an employee from nonprofit organizations or a public employee working within City Heights.  Priority will be given to those displaced by new public schools and redevelopment projects.

Since October 2001, the “Home in the Heights” program has provided a total $510,000 in loans to 22 first-time homebuyers, with loans ranging from $15,000 to $30,000.  The current allocation will be used for additional loans, processing and monitoring and administration costs. The funds are provided through tax increment set-aside monies from City Heights and are administered by Community Housing Works for the Redevelopment Agency.

For more information on the “Home in the Heights” first-time homebuyer program and eligibility requirements, call Community HousingWorks at (619) 282-6647.  For more information about available affordable housing units citywide, contact the San Diego Housing Commission at (619) 231-9400 or visit www.sdhc.net.  Comprehensive affordable housing information, including policies, initiatives and a wide array of programs, is available on the City of San Diego’s Web site at www.sandiego.gov/housing.

To receive information on redevelopment in City Heights or other City of San Diego communities, call the Community and Economic Development Department/Redevelopment Agency at (619) 533-4233 or visit the City’s Web site at www.sandiego.gov/cpci.

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The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agencyeliminates blight from designated areas, as well as achieves the goals of development, reconstruction and rehabilitation of residential, commercial, industrial, and retail districts.  Redevelopment is one of the most effective ways to breathe new life into deteriorated areas plagued by social, physical, environmental or economic conditions that act as a barrier to new investment by private enterprise.  The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agencyconsists of three divisions:the City Redevelopment Division (which provides overall agency management and is housed in the City of San Diego Communityand Economic Development Department), the Centre City Development Corporation and the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation.