[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish to seek OK for parish loan program

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish to seek OK for parish loan program

St. Bernard Parish's Home Mortgage Authority passed a resolution Thursday to
proceed with a low-interest loan program to help parish residents rebuild, a
parish news release said. The issue will go before the State Bond Commission
in July. 

Bonds would be issued to finance the loan program, under which a maximum of
a $250,000 loan could be available. The program would be open to applicants
earning less than $78,000 a year. Applicants would also have to have lived
in St. Bernard Parish at the time of Hurricane Katrina and the residence
involved must be owner-occupied, the news release said. 

Loan rates haven't been fixed but could be comparable to U.S. Small Business
Administration loans, which are about 2.7 percent. 
All but a handful of homes out of the parish's 27,000 residences were
flooded in the hurricane and the point of the loan program would be to help
residents rebuild, according to members of the Home Mortgage Authority board
who met Thursday, including Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez,
Parish Council Vice-Chairman Joseph DiFatta Jr. and banking official Norris
Delamore. 

"For people who can't get an SBA loan, this gives them a second way'' to try
to get a low-interest loan, DiFatta said. 

The State Bond Commission would decide on whether to grant approval to the
Mortgage Authority for the development of the loan program and approve the
form of the notice of intention to issue bonds, as well as approve the form
of the notice of sale of bonds. 

The Mortgage Authority also must obtain the approval of St. Bernard Parish
government for the loan program and the bond issuance necessary to furnish
the money as well as request the parish to apply for Community Development
Block Grant funds for the program.