Mortgages that save hundreds of dollars a month
MAHA organizing campaigns have helped over 17,000 homebuyers save hundreds per month, compared to what they would have paid with the other major first time homebuyer programs or conventional loans from banks and other lenders. Participating banks sign agreements with MAHA for commitments to the SoftSecond Mortgage Program (soon to be the ONE Mortgage Program). But the agreements cover a certain number of mortgages, and then it's up to us to stay organized and negotiate a new agreement.
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The SoftSecond Mortgage Costs Less Because Community Residents Helped Design It. MAHA Brings People Together To Keep The Program Available and Affordable.
In 1989 MAHA started organizing first time homebuyers who couldn't afford the high home prices and unaffordable mortgage products in Massachusetts. Two years later, this campaign resulted in the launch of the SoftSecond Mortgage Program. For over 20 years now, the SoftSecond has been the most affordable mortgage you can get. In 2013, the SoftSecond will be redesigned as the ONE Mortgage Program with a simpler structure and the same great affordability. For all that time, MAHA activists have been pushing to continue and expand the program so more people and neighborhoods can benefit.
MAHA's volunteers, supported and trained by our professional organizing staff, run community outreach campaigns and negotiate participation agreements with lenders. We currently have agreements with Bank of America, Citizens, Sovereign, and Eastern Bank. These agreements state the number of homebuyers each lender will serve during a given year, and the number of years the commitment will cover. When an agreement with a lender gets close to running out, MAHA organizes community residents to work together to make sure a new agreement is reached. When an out of state bank, like Citibank, starts to open branches in Massachusetts, MAHA mounts a campaign to bring the new bank into the SoftSecond Program. Please click here to let us know how you can help.
MAHA Calls On Citibank To Serve Low/Moderate Income Residents
MAHA is waging a campaign to bring Citibank into the ONE Mortgage Program. We have mobilized thousands of Massachusetts residents to write, call, e-mail, and visit bank executives. Our volunteers have handed out yellow flyers in front of Citi branches throughout Greater Boston, alerting customers and passersby to the poor service Citi offers low and moderate income homebuyers and neighborhoods.
Did you know the bank has 31 branches in Greater Boston, including 9 in Boston - but none in Dorchester, Roxbury, Roslindale, Hyde Park, or Mattapan? And we've alerted federal bank regulators to Citi's dismally low percentage of mortgages made to low and moderate income homebuyers in Massachusetts (14.3% for Citi vs. over 40% for Bank of America, Sovereign, and Citizens).
MAHA members are asking Citi to commit in writing to join the program. We have requested a letter to MAHA that includes the number of homebuyers the bank will serve each year from 2012-2014.
Civic Engagement
Our elected representatives know that MAHA registers new voters, educates people on where candidates stand on key housing issues, and turns out these educated voters on election day. Through face-to-face meetings, phone banks, postcards, letter writing campaigns, and large-scale community actions we connect class graduates, homeowners, and interested activists to elected officials and industry executives who make decisions about housing resources and policies. In each year since 2003, MAHA's graduates have voted at a rate approximately 20 percentage points higher than city and state averages.
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Voter Mobilization
Your vote determines the elected officials you allow to make decisions that affect you.
MAHA mobilizes voters to hold elected officials accountable. We call thousands of MAHA class graduates and SoftSecond Program homeowners to turn them out to the polls. Then we make sure those people call, write, and meet with our elected officials throughout the year to insist on progress toward our goals.
Using a "We Voted. Now What?" approach, MAHA members work to be sure that laws are passed and programs are funded that make homeownership affordable and mortgage lending fair and nondiscriminatory.
See some of our past successes to learn how our voter mobilzation work has impacted affordable housing.
Current campaigns include making sure the state continues to fund the SoftSecond Mortgage program.
Community Preservation Act
The Community Preservation Act (CPA), passed by the Massachusetts legislature in September 2000, allows communities across Massachusetts to raise money for affordable housing, open space, historic preservation and outdoor recreation by voting to assess up to a 3% surcharge on property taxes. The state provides matching funds to every city and town that chooses to participate. While most communities have allocated at least some funds for affordable housing, much more could be accomplished. MAHA is helping communities access the expertise they need, and build the community support necessary to construct or rehabilitate high quality affordable housing.
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155 communities, including seven in November 2012, have already adopted the CPA and others are considering it. Once adopted, the CPA gives local governments a powerful new tool with which to attack the affordable housing crisis facing Massachusetts. Of all funds collected through the local tax levy and state Community Preservation Trust Fund, at least 10% must be allocated to creating affordable housing.
During the first ten years, $925 million has been raised through CPA. Over 4,230 affordable houses have been created or rehabilitated. This represents $182 million (23% of the total allocations, including bonding) for affordable housing. But over 20 communities have not yet spent any money on affordable housing, and many towns have spent just a tiny fraction of their allocated funds on housing.
In 2010, MAHA hired a community preservation program manager to work with local communities to encourage more investment in affordable housing.
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