OHFA Annual Plan - Ohio Housing Finance Agency

Met Housing Needs• The Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, administered by the Ohio HousingFinance Agency, works fairly well but doesn’t meet the full needs of affordable housingin rural areas. Additional subsidy is needed.• The USDA Rural Development Section 502 Direct program provides a deep subsidyfor rural homebuyers but the funds are limited and due to budget costs they maybe reduced. The OHFA First-Time Homebuyer Program, RD Section 502 Guaranteedprogram, and the FHA program provide homeownership loans to many rural Ohioans,but many cannot meet the tightened underwriting standards nor can they afford theinterest cost. An additional subsidy is needed.• Financing offered by ODOD and OHFA for development, home improvements, downpayment assistance, and counseling has been very helpful in the rural areas. As withother programs, additional funds are always needed.Best Practices, Policies and Programs• Use of the LIHTC program to preserve affordable units in the rural areas. Unfortunatelyvery few are being helped with this program. The lowest income population in the ruralareas cannot be serviced without tenant subsidy.• The Housing Assistance Council provides Self Help Opportunity Program funds and otherdevelopment funds (money from HUD) for infrastructure at a low interest rate.• The Self-Help program with USDA Rural Development helps those with limited fundingto afford a home but these funds are also limited.• The Federal Home Loan Bank offers a down payment assistance program (WelcomeHome) to member institutions to provide up to $7,500 in down payment assistance.Unfortunately this helps with the down payment but not to make the ongoing paymentaffordable.• The Federal Home Loan Bank also offers the Affordable Housing Program, whichcan provide grants, low interest loans, and interest rate buydowns to help withdevelopment.• The Community Development Finance Fund can also be used to buy down the interestrate.• Combining the use of Housing Trust Funds and the Rural Development Section504 program loan/grant funds works very well. These funds can also be used foraccessibility which may help keep the resident in their home which is less costly thanassisted living.• The Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), offered by the Ohio Departmentof Development (ODOD) has been an excellent resource for housing related activity inthe rural areas.• The Housing Assistance Grant Program offered through ODOD with Ohio Housing TrustFunds has also been helpful in rural areas to assist with home repair, accessibility,counseling, down payment assistance, etc.• The Housing Development Gap Financing for non-tax credit developments offered bythe OHFA provides financing for affordable housing in the rural areas. This program hasworked well in most areas.94