Business is booming for the City of Fairfax Renaissance Housing Corp. (FRHC). So to help it carry out its mission, the Fairfax City Council doubled the amount of money it had allocated for the organization in its FY 2016 budget.
In conjunction with its banking partner, Main Street Bank, the FRHC provides two-year, no-interest, home-improvement loans of up to $100,000 to qualifying City of Fairfax homeowners. During that time period, the FRHC pays the interest.
Last summer, the organization and Council discussed future programs and opportunities, and FRHC board members received questions from the Council. The members recently returned with answers, plus an analysis of its current loan program.
The Council had asked if duplexes, in addition to single-family homes, could be included in the program, and the FRHC said they could, as long as an improvement project covered both sides of the duplex and both were owner-occupied.
ANOTHER QUESTION was whether rental properties could be eligible for these loans, but the FRHC determined that their inclusion would most likely exceed the organization’s available funds or displace applications from homeowners.
The FRHC also concluded that the requirement that homes be at least 10 years old need not be changed, since newer homes generally don’t need the loan program’s benefits. And it reaffirmed that the market, its own financial resources and the need should continue to determine the types of projects eligible for the program.
The Council wondered if neighborhoods that haven’t used the program as extensively as others be targeted for marketing. But the FRHC said that the 197 projects completed under the loan program since its inception were mapped and were found to be generally located citywide.
During the recent meeting between the FRHC and the Council, FRHC Board President Dale Lestina said that, between 2002 and 2013, some 2,064 Fairfax City permits were pulled for home additions. And 25 percent of them were for FRHC loan-supported projects.
“We haven’t lost one penny since the beginning of this program,” said Lestina. “We’ve budgeted $150,000 for loans and interest payments.”
However, he added, “If we do just two projects in the $100,000 range, about $40,000 in loans will be needed to get through this year. But we think that amount is low, so our request [from the City] is for $50,000 [more for this year] and $100,000 for next year. That’s because the $50,000 we got last year didn’t get us through the year – our loans are on the upswing.”
Councilman Michael DeMarco said all the Council members agree that the FRHC does “important work for the City and for our citizens. We’re interested in supporting this program.”
Agreeing, Councilman David Meyer said, “We don’t want the corporation to have to turn people away.
“People tell us Fairfax City is a great place to live, and this [aid] helps us a great deal,” replied Lestina.
Councilwoman Nancy Loftus asked, “If the interest exceeds funding, how do you decide who gets the loans?” And Lestina said it’s first come, first served, if the applicant meets FRHC criteria and the bank’s approval.
“We’ve never turned anyone away,” he said. “But for four years, we didn’t receive any grants, so we had to cut back the maximum amount of our loans [from $250,000] to $100,000.” He also noted that FRHC approval isn’t based on the type of project being done – there’s no ranking.
THE COUNCIL MEMBERS then discussed the matter in a budget work session and, when the FY16 budget was later adopted, it included an extra $50,000 for the FRHC, in addition to the $50,000 the City had already earmarked for it, for a total of $100,000.
“We want this program to remain viable and robust,” said Mayor Scott Silverthorne. “And we appreciate all that the FRHC is doing.”