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Enacting measures for $1.4M US grants OK’d
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Posted on Feb 28 2001
The House of Representatives yesterday adopted a resolution authorizing the CNMI government to submit an action plan for the Community Development Block Grant application to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
House Joint Resolution 12-19 authorizes the government to submit applications for three federal programs worth $1.4 million under the auspices of the US-HUD.
Of the total amount, $929,000 will come in a form of a Community Development Block Grants; $413,000 would be for Home Investment Partnerships; and $40,000 will be in a form of an Emergency Shelter Grant.
The federal grants could be used for a myriad of community development programs that are aimed at benefiting low and moderate income individuals.
The federal government earlier extended the implementation of another public housing program in the Northern Marianas to increase home ownership among moderate-income families on the island.
NMHC said making the Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program available to CNMI residents would facilitate the growth of home owners in the Commonwealth.
The program will be implemented here through the Rural Development of the US Department of Agriculture under the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act, which was enacted on Nov. 29, 1990.
The GRH Loan Program will basically cater to moderate-income families although they have stronger repayment ability than those in the lower income bracket, which makes them more capable of obtaining direct loans.
Programs for the moderate-income families are limited in the Commonwealth since majority of the existing public housing programs in the CNMI are geared at assisting low-income families.
Under the GRH Loan Program, residents whose adjusted annual income falls within the limit set for the Commonwealth may seek credit packages for the purchase or construction of a modest house in a rural area.
