New Program to Help in Buying, Renovating Homes in Norwalk & Elsewhere [Video]

A new campaign to help working families in Fairfield County buy and renovate affordable housing was announced Monday at Stamford Government Center, with Norwalk Mayor Richard A. Moccia joining U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia to publicize the program.

Get Home Now!, which is coordinated by a coalition that includes the city governments along with various community and housing groups, is a $25 million campaign that will offer federally insured mortgage options and home repair assistance.

"With budgets tightening at all levels of government, communities are depending more and more on private programs such as 'Get Home Now' to help those in need of assistance," Himes said in a statement. "This program will help rejuvenate neighborhoods and, in turn, help the local economy."

Through credit enhanced FHA mortgage products provided by First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation, qualified families will be able to obtain a mortgage with a minimum credit score of 580, or a minimum score of 550 for police officers, firefighters and members of the military.

The program also allows both new buyers and existing residents borrow up to 110 percent of the home value to make home repairs or finance existing debt. Repairs through the program will be completed by The Home Depot's Renovations Services group to ensure that the work is done by trusted and skilled contractors. Repairs made by The Home Depot will be backed by a one-year warranty.

Families interested in the program will be paired with local agencies and non-profit organizations in their cities and towns through a local hotline (877-484-6669).

While Pavia and Moccia were both in attendance to speak about the impact they hope the program would have on their cities (see attached video; for technical reasons, it is harder to hear Moccia in it), Himes spoke on behalf of Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, who was absent due to his father-in-law's illness.

"Bridgeport has the highest concentration of foreclosures in the state of Connecticut," he said. "And Stamford and Norwalk, and frankly our suburban towns, have this issue as well, but in Bridgeport we see the highest incidences of people being forced out of their homes, which is a tragedy — a personal tragedy.

"And, of course, we have a public interest in preventing that from happening because an empty home on a block is an eye sore," Himes continued. "It reduces the property value of surrounding homes and it creates, in some instances, a safety hazard ..."

Teasha Bivins, owner of the Westport-based Bivins Realty Group, attended Monday's press conference. "As a real estate broker servicing these communities everyday, I'm very excited," she told Patch. "Working families deserve this."

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-3) also announced the launch of the Get Home Now! program in New Haven on Monday.