State housing program credited for 15,170 loans

Alison Calkins

Wednesday, Dec. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Janice Mayo saved her pennies, dimes and quarters in 5-gallon jugs for 13 years because she wanted a home for her family.

On Sept. 30, her American dream was realized when she got a loan from the Nevada Housing Division.

Her mortgage was also a milestone for the NHD.

With Mayo, the NHD reached its first billion dollars in single-family mortgage loans to low- to moderate-income first-time homebuyers.

"What you're doing is not something that's easy to do," said James Bradham, president and CEO of the American Bank of Commerce and the guest speaker at a NHD lunch Tuesday, honoring the program's public and private partners.

"Congratulations. You've brought a solution to a difficult situation," he said.

The NHD goes back to 1975 during the administration of Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, who was honored as the program's architect.

"It wasn't a popular bill. It was hinted that it was a little like communism," O'Callaghan said, recalling Nevada Revised Statutes 319 that created the NHD within the state's Department of Business and Industry.

"It's a program that's provided 15,000 people with homes and hasn't cost the taxpayers one cent."

The NHD raises money through selling tax-exempt bonds to private investors. Bond proceeds are loaned to qualified borrowers at rates slightly above NHD's cost of funds -- typically 1 to 1.5 points lower than conventional interest rates.

Income levels are $47,500 for families of one to two, and $54,625 for families of three or more.

In Clark County, new homes can cost no more than $124,200 and existing homes, no more than $124,365. Participating lenders finance the loans, which the NHD then purchases from the lender.

So far, 15,170 families throughout the state have moved into new homes through the program.

Single Family Loan Department Supervisor Nancy Corbin said the program is still growing.

"We instituted five programs (issuing of bonds) this year, each one totalling $25 (million) to $30 million in funds," she said, adding that the default rate is far below that of any other lending levels.

She also said that Mayo exemplifies the spirit of NHD borrowers.

"Thirteen years ago, she set out to make a better life for her family and she found a way to do it. We're pleased and honored to be able to work with people like Janice," she said.

Mayo saved $1,800 in the 5-gallon jugs. She wound up with $1,100 that she used for the down payment on a College Park house that she and her four children now call home.

"That was the money I had left after the cars broke down and other things happened," she said, unable to suppress a broad smile. "I'm very happy."

Also honored along with O'Callaghan, Sen. Richard Bryan and former Department of Commerce Director Mike Melner were lenders Weyerhaeuser Mortgage Co.; Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. and Laura McSwain; Philadelphia Freedom Corp. and Sue Linn Ross; Mortgage Capital Resource Corp.; and Lou Ann Young, InterWest Mortgage.

Builders Hank Chism, Lifestyle Homes, Lewis Homes, Pardee Homes and the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors also were thanked for their longstanding participation in the program.

"This program is an amazing success," said NHD Administrator Charles Horsey. "It's a perfect example of how public-private partnerships can work. The private sector groups have made it a success. There would be no program without them."