Buffalo & Erie County: NYS Resilient Retrofits 1% Loan Program

The Resilient Retrofits 1% Loan Program kicks off next week with a media announcement in the town of Lackawanna on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz will join New York State Homes & Community Renewal Deputy Commissioner Leonard Skrill and HHQ's Deputy Director Anna Falicov to announce the $9 million loan fund for income-eligible Erie, Broome, Kings & Queens and Suffolk County homeowners who live in the 500-year floodplain to help preserve their homes in the face of increasing flood events and other climate-readiness needs. For more information on the Erie Program, visit www.homehq.org/erieretrofits.

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Tiffany Patton
More Than 100 Organizations Endorse the New York Housing Compact - Governor Hochul's Plan to Address New York's Housing Crisis

More than 100 business and nonprofit leaders from across the state voiced their support for the New York Housing Compact - Governor Hochul's comprehensive strategy announced in the Fiscal Year 2024 Executive Budget to address New York's housing crisis and build 800,000 new homes in the next decade. The plan builds on the Governor's vision to make New York more livable, more accessible, and more affordable.  

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Tiffany Patton
Credit card debt is going up, but there are ways to keep yours in check

New data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows credit card debt is on the rise again. Americans now have a total of $986 million in debt, a record high. But there are strategies to keep your own credit card debt under control.

Reducing debt and increasing credit scores is the most popular service at Syracuse’s Financial Empowerment Center, or FEC. Their counselors helped reduce more than $1 million in non-mortgage debt for its clients in 2022.

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Tiffany Patton
Leaders in Land Banking: A Conversation with Adam Zaranko at the Albany County Land Bank

We ultimately found the community development financial institution Home HeadQuarters, Inc. Home HeadQuarters is a one-stop-shop, providing educational resources and purchase and construction financing to qualified individuals, families, contractors, and investors seeking to purchase and redevelop properties from the Albany County Land Bank. This partnership creates a new pathway to homeownership and wealth building for people who have difficulty securing the financial resources needed to purchase and rehab buildings. Access to capital is a crucial component of the solution: it’s one of the biggest causes of the racial and economic homeownership gaps and a tremendous barrier to creating more equitable opportunities.

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Tiffany Patton
Syracuse’s Home HeadQuarters serves land bank homebuyers across NY state (your letters)

In fact, Home HeadQuarters provided the first-ever mortgage to a family of color purchasing a property through the Albany County Land Bank. Preem Cabey, the first-time Albany homebuyer, was declined for purchase financing by at least five financial institutions before coming to Home HeadQuarters. In just over a year, Home HeadQuarters has provided nearly $1 million in purchase financing for Albany County Land Bank homebuyers.

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Tiffany Patton