(Columbus) The City of Columbus continues its efforts to educate potential home-buyers on homeownership and financial responsibility, and Mayor Michael B. Coleman will ask City Council to approve Ordinances #0279, 0280 and 0282-2008 on Monday, February 25, to invest $100,000 to educate more than 1,200 families through a partnership with Homes on the Hill, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and the Columbus Housing Partnership.

“Homeownership is a part of the American dream, and a key cornerstone to building stronger neighborhoods. We must do all that we can to educate buyers on the responsibilities of financing and owning a home. Programs such as these will help buyers avoid the pitfalls of foreclosure and build long term financial wealth for the family,” said Mayor Coleman.

“Foreclosures are tearing apart families and neighborhoods, leaving behind abandoned houses and broken dreams,” said Charleta B. Tavares, Chair of the Health, Housing and Human Services Committee. “While efforts on the state level to reverse the foreclosure crisis stall, it is important that we on the local level continue our push to educate and prepare residents for the responsibility of home ownership.”

MORPC’s Homebuyer Education Program provides homebuyer counseling, marketing and outreach regarding homeownership opportunities for home-buyers in the City of Columbus. Low-income families will be educated on establishing good credit and qualifying for a mortgage, will receive down-payment assistance from local agencies, including MORPC, and will receive mortgage loans from local lenders to buy a first home. MORPC will also offer six counseling sessions of six weeks each, and individual credit and budget counseling. Four housing fairs will also be held that will promote access to MORPC’s programs. This program will serve about 150 people.

"We are pleased to receive funds from the City of Columbus in support of our pre purchase homeownership education efforts. It has been our experience that the best foreclosure prevention activities are those that take place prior to the buyer purchasing the home. Avoiding mistakes in advance of entering into a contract and having a better understanding of terms and obligations is critical to homeownership success. We continue to see many first time homebuyers, many Spanish speaking households, who benefit from our classes,” said Stephen Torsell, Executive Director of Homes on the Hill, CDC.

Homes on the Hill will focus their effort to the area’s growing Hispanic community. The program will explain issues of home purchase, including loan application, finding a realtor, protecting the home investment, home maintenance and inspection and loan closing procedures. This program will also offer financial and credit counseling translated into Spanish to clients and access to down payment assistance programs to help low and moderate income families purchase homes. The program will assist about 200 people.

Columbus Housing Partnership will offer homebuyer education, pre-purchase counseling, post-purchase counseling, mortgage and delinquency counseling, default counseling, home equity conversion counseling, outreach initiatives, down payment assistance programs and resident development programming to low and moderate income residents throughout the City of Columbus. This program will assist about 900 people.