MOU signed to provide housing loans for low and very low-income residents

The Northern Marianas Housing Corp. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service signed yesterday an amended Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the provision of housing for low and very low-income residents of the CNMI.

The MOU if for USDA Rural Housing Service’s single-family housing loan programs. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) witnessed the signing of the MOU in the Office of the Governor’s conference room.

The signatories to the MOU are NMHC board chair Merced “Marcie” M. Tomokane, NMHC corporate director Jesse Palacios, and USDA Rural Housing Service administrator Joaquin J. Altoro.

The MOU replaces any prior MOUs executed by RHS and NMHC as far back as March 26, 1979. The purpose is to establish and define set roles for RHS and NMHC with respect to the making, guaranteeing, and servicing of RHS single-family housing loans and grants to owners and lessees of CNMI lands.

Under the MOU, RHS is prepared to make such loans and grants, while NMHC seeks to facilitate and support the provision of USDA housing assistance programs in the CNMI.

NMHC corporate director Palacios said with the amended MOU in place, they’re ready to “rock and roll with this program again” as it is something that the CNMI needs.

Palacios said the last two such loans they had were back in 2008 and that from that point on, it was just mostly U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs.

Palacios said Super Typhoon Yutu devastated a lot of homes in the CNMI and NMHC received almost $244 million to aid in the recovery. With that amount they set aside about $137 million for housing.

“And we thought that was a lot of money, but we’re finding out now that it’s not a whole lot,” Palacios said.

The corporate director said they still have close to 300 on their wait list.

He said for the home program, they also have almost 50 on their wait list.

“So as you can see from these numbers, there is a demand for affordable housing unit in the CNMI and we’re just happy to finally have this MOU in place. We can have additional funding to help our community,” Palacios said.

USDA Rural Development Hawaii/Western Pacific State director Chris Kanazawa said they all share the same frustrations about how long the program is taking.

Kanazawa said he left USDA in 2016 and returned in March 2022.

He said he has had many discussions with delegate Sablan about the program so through the support of their administrator Altoro, they were able to resurrect the MOU to at least start the program again.

Kanazawa said his intention is if this is successful, they can always revisit and expand it.

“But I think right now the important thing is we have this infrastructure in place to allow us to at least go forward,” Kanazawa said.

Gov. Palacios thanked Kanazawa, Altoro, and USDA Rural Development area director Joseph M. Diego for their persistence getting this program.

Palacios said also he really thanks delegate Sablan for his advocacy to put this on the radar and put a push.

NMHC board chair Tomokane said she believes the program was suspended before because there were a lot of accounts that were not serviced properly.

Tomokane said there were a lot of back-and-forth negotiations as to what can NMHC do to keep those families in their homes because those are the only homes they have.

She said thanks to USDA, the negotiation went through with an amicable negotiation.

“That was a short, brief history. But now I’m so happy that you guys are back,” Tomokane said.

She apologized for holding back the MOU because she had some questions.

“You can say I’m greedy. Okay. When you work in a financial company, you need to get the most of your investment right?” Tomokane said.

She said when the MOU came before the board, she did ask the staff why it’s only three loans and that they should go back and ask for more.

Tomokane thanked Altoro and Kanazawa for giving them additional two for a total of five loans, which is a good start.

“And we really appreciate so that we can put those families that have been waiting for this program. Give them and their loved ones a home and maybe we can spread get some more as we progress,” she said.

Tomokane said it was originally three loans and that was the reason there was a little bit delay until they get confirmation that USDA is going to increase it.

“We were hoping for more but you know we take five,” she said.

Tomokane assured USDA that NMHC staff and management will make sure that this program will be monitored and implemented as agreed on the MOU.

She said with collaborative efforts between NMHC and USDA Rural Housing Service, she believes this program will move.

“We’ll make sure, we, the board, monitor how the staff are progressing and we’ll make sure that they will comply with everything and will not have a repeat,” the NMHC board chairperson said.

Tomokane said NMHC has three staff on board that are already certified to manage this program.

Kanazawa said first, Tomokane is not greedy, but is only passionate and that he appreciates that.

“I think it’s important that you were comfortable with. So no apologies, no excuses. You did the right thing,” Kanazawa said.

Kanazawa said if they are finding that the five loans have been made, and everything is performing he is more than happy to go back to his boss and see whether they can expand that.

“You are key to the success. So I appreciate your commitment also,” Kanazawa told Tomokane.

Delegate Sablan said NMHC has matured more that it was in the past.

“We have to restart the confidence because you also have bosses you report to,” said Sablan as he thanked the USDA officials for coming to Saipan and also to NMHC officials and staff for the hard work.

Before the signing of the MOU, Altoro stated that he is really proud of the work they’re doing at USDA Rural Housing Service to help realize President Joseph Biden’s commitment to ensure that all Americans have an affordable place they can call home, leaving no community behind.

“Today we are signing a Memorandum of Understanding that recommits us to partnering with the Commonwealth so that residents are able to buy, build, and repair homes through USDA’s single family home loan programs,” Altoro said.

He said USDA is renewing its partnership with the NMHC to ensure people living in the CNMI have access to safe and affordable places to live.

Altoro said as a part of the MOU, the NMHC will work toward becoming a certified loan packager for the Rural Housing Service.

He said through this partnership, USDA Rural Development and NMHC will try to accomplish the following:

• Reach more people in the Commonwealth who may be eligible for the USDA home loans.

• Provide technical assistance to potential applicants.

• Help potential applicants improve their ability to qualify for a home.

• Ensure applications are complete with supporting documents prior to submission.

“So together, both organizations will work to ensure people have the resources and support needed to submit successful applications,” Altoro said.

He said this MOU is the latest in a series of partnership agreements between the organizations, which began in 1979.

“And so we are proud of what we’re accomplishing today—with the acknowledgement there’s still more to do,” he said.

Altoro noted that the that last part is more important, that there’s still more to do.