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AHFA Board of Directors to Meet in September
The AHFA Board of Directors will meet Wednesday, September 6 at 11 a.m. in the AHFA offices.
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Step Up Success Story:
Rollie McCall
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Demopolis
Demopolis Middle School assistant principal Rollie McCall Jr. recently spoke to AHFA about his decision to buy a home after years of renting. Lender Jordan Hardwick at First Federal Mortgage in Tuscaloosa told McCall about AHFA's Step Up program that provided vital down payment assistance and an affordable interest rate.
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Student Spotlight:
Maggie & Blakely LaVorgna |
Beverlye Crossings, Dothan
In 2000, the Alabama Affordable Housing Association (AAHA) created a scholarship program for residents of member-owned apartment properties in Alabama. The scholarship funds are donated by the owners, contractors, architects, accountants, property management companies, investors, lenders, developers, and various vendors that make up AAHA's membership as well as other non-member individuals. Since its inception, the AAHA resident scholarship fund has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships.
Meet the LaVorgna sisters of Beverlye Crossings in Dothan:
Sisters Blakely and Maggie, along with mother Dixie Maxwell, are a tight-knit family unit. Maxwell, manager of Beverlye Crossings I in Dothan, has always emphasized the importance of a college education to her daughters. So she encouraged both of them to apply for resident scholarships through AAHA when the time came.
Blakely, 20, is in her third year as a scholarship recipient. She attends Troy University and is pursuing a degree in elementary education. She said college was an adjustment from her time at Dothan High School. "I feel like I didn't really have to study in high school. It was just kind of easy for me," she said. "Freshman year of college was a big wake-up call. You really have to study a lot more."
She has since found her stride and hopes to teach kindergarten through second grade.
Eighteen-year-old Maggie, a dual enrollment student who is just five credits shy of being a sophomore, is charting a different course. Her scholarship will help pay for semesters at Wallace Community College in Dothan before she transfers to Troy University to pursue a nursing degree. But first, inspired by a father with a military background, she will attend Army National Guard basic combat training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
A testament to the job Maxwell has done as a single mother, the LaVorgna sisters see their scholarship success more as an accomplishment for her than for themselves.
"No one in our family has a college degree," said Maggie. "Our mom was fortunate to get a well-paying job with Hall Housing, but she pounded it in our heads to get a college degree."
Blakely added, "There has always been a question not of IF we are going to college, but HOW were we going to do it. This really gives us an opportunity to do that. It is a big help to our mom."
In addition to the scholarship funds awarded by AAHA, Maggie was named a 2017 recipient of a Jack Godin, Jr. scholarship from the national Council for Affordable and Rural Housing. The CARH scholarship provides Maggie an additional $1,500 per semester for up to four years.
For more information about the resident scholarship program, please contact Arrice Faught, AAHA's executive director at
arrice@alcarh.org or 205.331.8668.
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HHA Success Story:
Vickey Pentakota
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Hamilton
No stranger to adversity, burn survivor and single mother Vickey Pentakota was struggling to make her mortgage payments after a divorce devastated her finances. Pentakota qualified for lien extinguishment through Hardest Hit Alabama's Loan Modification Assistance Program.
HHA was able to pay off Pentakota's mortgage loan and secure the home where she has made so many fond memories with her daughter and other family over the years.
HHA offers programs including mortgage payment assistance for unemployed or underemployed homeowners, as well as loan modification and short sale options for borrowers facing financial hardships.
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New MCC Program Flyer for Participating Lenders and Realtors
The flyer features the same branding as our
Step Up program flyer introduced last year, and both flyers can serve as companion pieces to rack cards that AHFA can also make available upon request.
Both flyers allow our Realtor and lending partners to input their contact information prior to printing.
Lenders: These resources are also available under the
Marketing Materials tab of
Lender Online.
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Step Up+ Enhancement Available for a Limited Time
In June, AHFA announced a new, temporary AHFA-administered Step Up+ mortgage enhancement that will pay the upfront split private mortgage insurance premium (up to $1,500) for homebuyers who earn less than 80 percent of the area median income.
In turn, homebuyers will pay a lower monthly premium as part of their mortgage payment. Additionally, the interested party contribution has been increased from 3 percent to 4 percent for this program.
All Step Up+ loans must close by September 20.
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Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting:
Glen Arbor
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Mobile
Mobile's Glen Arbor, which comprises 112 units, officially opened its doors on August 18 to seniors and families. The facility features a swimming pool, toddler splash center, fitness center, business center, laundry area, and a basketball court.
Developed by TBG Residential, Glen Arbor was financed in part by more than $1.27 million in AHFA-administered Housing Credits.
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Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting:
Country Village
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Greenville
On August 22, a grand opening and ribbon cutting was held for Country Village in Greenville. The newly renovated, senior housing development was financed in part by
$262,166 in Housing Credits, administered by AHFA.
The 38-unit development by Morrow Realty features one- and two-bedroom units with a clubhouse/community building, covered picnic area, gazebo and computer center.
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Important Notice about Customer CareNet (CCN) Availability
ServiSolutions' online account service, Customer CareNet (CCN), will be unavailable on the following dates as our vendor will be making updates to and/or conducting testing on the system.
- Sunday, September 10
- Sunday, September 24
- Sunday, October 22
- Sunday, January 21, 2018
- Sunday, February 11, 2018
- Saturday-Sunday, February 17-18, 2018
The outage times for future maintenance will be noted on the CCN website closer to each date.
If you have any questions about CCN or these scheduled outages, please contact Customer Service at inquiries@servsol.com.
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#OurAlabamaHome Visits Natural Bridge and the State Capitol
This month,
#OurAlabamaHome visited cities far (Natural Bridge) and near (Montgomery).
While in North Alabama, AHFA detoured to view the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies.
Then, we turned our attention on AHFA's own hometown - Alabama's state capital of Montgomery. There are few cities that have affected the flow of American history as much as Montgomery. Men and women who dr
amatically impacted the course of our nation did so within view of the
capitol steps.
#OurAlabamaHome is AHFA's theme for 2017. We regularly take road tr
ips to visit with customers who have bought their home or found affordable rental housing because of AHFA programs.
As we travel to visit these customers, we're also highlighting the city or town they live in to celebrate Alabama and illustrate how AHFA's programs reach acr
oss the
state. Together, our customers' testimonials bring
#OurAlabamaHome
to life.
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Natural Bridge Park, Natural Bridge
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Alabama State Capitol, Montgomery
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AHFA Offices to Close for Labor Day
The AHFA, ServiSolutions and Hardest Hit Alabama offices will be closed Monday, September 4 in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
We will reopen at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 5.
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Alabama Housing Finance Authority | Montgomery, Alabama | 334.244.9200 |
Email |
Website
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