JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville announced the launch of a pilot program that aims to help 200 people with down payment assistance for homeownership.
The program will allocate $2 million in local funding to support individuals and families as they move from renters to homeowners, according to Mayor Donna Deegan.
The goal is to support potential buyers who don’t qualify for federal assistance but who need some help to meet their down payment requirements.
Deegan, Councilmember Ju’Coby Pittman, and other city leaders attended the announcement ceremony on Thursday.
“My vision for Jacksonville is a city where every person every single one of us has the opportunity to thrive,” Deegan said.
The city said that based on community feedback, affordable housing is at the top of the list of things to address.
“Many barriers to homeownership remain today. Our Black and Hispanic neighbors face lower rates of homeownership and its harder than ever for young people to purchase their first home in today’s market,” Deegan said.
Watch the full announcement in the video below:
The city said Jacksonville is about 35,000 units short of affordable housing needs. Right now, more than 3,000 units of affordable housing are being built to help stabilize the market.
“So as we build more supply that will stabilize the market and meet the demand that we need here in Jacksonville,” Joshua Hicks, director of affordable housing for the city of Jacksonville, said.
Program details:
- The program will provide up to 75% of the total down payment and closing costs as required by the mortgage writer, not to exceed $25,000 per household.
- Eligible properties will be single-family homes with a maximum value of $335,000.
- Applicants must be first-time homebuyers
- Eligible single individuals can make up to $74,400 a year. A family of three can make up to $95,000 a year.
“This program is in place so that a client can work with their mortgage writer, the bank, to figure out what’s best and what’s appropriate for them in terms of what do they need for closing costs or the downpayment assistance to qualify for homeownership,” Hicks said.
During the announcement ceremony, Mayor Deegan addressed questions about the Ameris Bank sign outside the house – they were accused of redlining, discouraging, and denying loans to Black and Hispanic residents in Jacksonville.
“Accountability is going to be very important on that front. But also, I think that there are people who are very very incentivized to show that they are not discriminating. So at the end of the day what we are looking to do is show the community that we’re all still working together for this cause and banks are anxious to show they are as well,” Deegan said.
The news conference was held outside a house that’s being sold by the same company facing a lawsuit where they are accused of racial profiling in their tenant screening process. News4JAX asked the JWB representative about it.
“I can’t get into that,” CFO Adam Rigel said.
News4JAX was later told by the group doing PR from JWB that things are in the works to address those concerns.
The mayor acknowledged how people want accountability for the programs they put in place. She said without a doubt there is a need for this so the city will track the program’s effectiveness, and will consider more funding based on how well it works.