Hundreds of thousands available soon for renters and first-time homebuyers in Fresno

Fresno city officials are rolling out new home down payment and Section 8 voucher assistance programs that they hope will make it easier for residents to find a home in Fresno.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and his team are working with Bank of America to provide up to $17,500 in down payment assistance to first-time home buyers. Plus, the Fresno City Council is working on another down payment assistance program to help middle class Fresno renters become home owners. The new programs also provide new home owner education programs.

While increasing the city’s affordable housing stock is important, Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria said helping people become homeowners also is an important piece in addressing the city’s housing crisis.

“We have 65% of people in our city that are renting, right? We need to figure out how we flip that around,” Soria said. “We should have 65% of people as homeowners because it creates better neighborhoods. In terms of stability, it makes sure that people don’t have to worry about their house payment ever going up.”

City officials last month approved those programs and others designed to create more affordable housing options throughout the city in another step to address the city’s housing crisis. The other programs include creating land trusts, tiny home villages and potential changes to the city’s permitting and development process.

Karla Martinez, a policy advocate with Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, said it’s good to see movement on some of Fresno housing issues.

However, she said, urgent needs remain. Martinez said Fresno should follow the lead of California cities that have passed rent control legislation.

“There needs to be stronger local tenant protections now,” Martinez said. “Wages continue to remain stagnant but rents continue to rise. So that’s why folks really want to see that happen as soon as possible so that families and children don’t continue to be displaced.”

Down payment assistance

The mayor’s down payment assistance program already is up and running. This year, 28 families received the assistance, he said.

Under the mayor’s partnership with Bank of America, there are no income restrictions to qualify for the assistance. However, the assistance is tied to about 400 homes identified in the city. People interested in buying the homes can apply through Bank of America. For more information, visit the city’s web page about the program.

The Fresno City Council also approved another down payment assistance program, but it’s not quite ready for applicants.

Through the No Place Like Home program, people with household incomes up to $120,000 and a five-year residential history in the city of Fresno can qualify for a $15,000, 0% interest loan that will turn into a forgiven grant as long as the applicant lives in the home for five years.

Once it’s ready, the city council hopes the program will help up to 300 families. Details for that program still are being finalized with the hopes of

“Folks were very happy to see that there is now a down payment assistance program trying to be implemented by the city,” Martinez said of local residents. “It is something that folks have been asking for for more than a year now, for the opportunity to have that down payment assistance regardless of your immigration status.”

Southwest Fresno home ownership classes

The city council through its No Place Like Home Initiative is giving $1 million to the Southwest Fresno Development Corporation, which hopes to repurpose the abandoned Bank of America building in southwest Fresno into a community development center.

Allysunn Walker, who leads the organization, already contacted Bank of America and is in talks with leaders there.

The Southwest Fresno Development Corporation provides multilingual first-time homeownership financial literacy to southwest Fresno residents. The new money is geared toward continuing that work for people interested in buying existing homes in southwest Fresno as well as building new ones.

The councilmembers also hope it will prevent gentrification.

Walker noted that 1,000 new homes have been permitted in southwest Fresno and will be built over the next 10 years.

“Our focus is really on how do we create loan-ready borrowers who love that community, lives there, works there, grew up there and they want to come back and buy there,” Walker said. “We believe in majority owner occupancy, which can change a community. We don’t want another absentee landlord downtown neighborhood.”

Walker previously worked with the Fresno Housing Authority and knows all about obstacles to home ownership. The organization already is partnered with banks and realty offices.

While the $1 million may seem like a lot of money, southwest Fresno is overdue for investment, Walker said.

“We’ve learned a lot in the last several years about how to make lasting change and center equity,” she said. “This opportunity is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for residents of southwest Fresno. I’m really hoping people can put their arms around this, and let’s make change in a real tangible way.”

Section 8 voucher incentives

As part of one of the mayor’s new plans, the city will work with Fresno Housing Authority to help Section 8 voucher holders overcome whatever obstacle stands between them and getting housing.

The city is using about $250,000 to subsidize costs for rental applications and credit-check fees, which add up quickly and often are nonrefundable.

Another $350,000 will go toward a signing incentive to encourage “mom and pop” landlords to accept Section 8 voucher holders as tenants. The city also allocated money for a repair fund for landlords who accept Section 8 vouchers and for any vacancy loss they experience. Landlords who are considered “slum lords” or who own properties with high numbers of code violations won’t be considered.

Voucher holders who are families, senior citizens, people with disabilities, veterans and those in emergency shelters will be top priority.

Dyer said he hopes the incentives and assistance will help house up to 450 Section 8 voucher holders

Martinez, the policy advocate, said landlords don’t need more incentives. Rather, they should follow the law, she said, which prohibits them from discriminating against Section 8 voucher holders.

“We’re continuing to incentivize landlords for not following the law,” Martinez said. “Instead of incentivizing folks to take these vouchers, there should be a complaint hot line in order to enforce the law so folks know their rights. All landlords know that they have to accept vouchers, and if they don’t accept vouchers, there should be repercussions to that.”

Land trusts

The city also allocated money for two trusts, an affordable one, called the Central California Land Trust, and a mixed-income one, called the Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust. The Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust still is designed to be on the affordable side as well.

A community land trust owns the land but may rent or even sell the housing units on the land. A mixed-income neighborhood trust works in a similar way but is geared toward blighted properties or undesirable areas. Both types of trusts are meant to keep housing costs affordable.

The city council approved $225,000 to help the Central California Land Trust build its organization. From there, up to 25 applicants who can’t afford a market-rate home will be able rent or buy a home from the trust.

The Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust is a concept new to Fresno and focuses on all of central Fresno. The Lowell Community Development Corporation will use the $1 million to buy and renovate 50 units.

While the Lowell CDC has done a lot of work on home ownership education in the last 10 years, the staff shifted gears in recent years because Fresno’s housing landscape changed so quickly. Now, there’s also a big need for affordable housing.

“We totally see this as a necessary tool in the tool belt to help solve our affordable housing crisis,” said Esther Carver, executive director of the Lowell CDC.