California Housing Finance Agency

01/24/2025 | News release | Archived content

Housing Matters Newsletter: January 2025

Special Message: Disaster in Los Angeles

Our hearts go out to our fellow Californians dealing with the tragedy and loss from the fires in the L.A. area. Thank you also to all the firefighters, first responders and community members who have been working nonstop to help.

On the housing front, there could be tens of thousands of families who will need a new home. Governor Newsom's Administration has not only been coordinating emergency relief efforts, but also taking actions to address the long-term needs in the affected communities, including housing. More information can be found at CA.gov/LAfires.

As CalHFA continues to work with the Administration to explore additional ways we can help, our existing disaster relief guidelines are already set up to assist Southern Californians looking to buy a new home. Those guidelines allow those whose homes were destroyed or declared uninhabitable by a California major disaster to access the CalHFA FHA first mortgage program with the 203(h) option that offers 100% financing. In addition, borrowers can also include the MyHome Assistance Program to pay for additional down payment or closing costs without having to be a first-time homebuyer.

Introducing new leadership

Heading into 2025, CalHFA has a new Chief Deputy Director in Rebecca Franklin, Ed.D. and a new Director of Multifamily Programs in Stephanie McFadden.

Franklin was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom following four years as CalHFA's Director of Enterprise Risk Management and Compliance. She also served as President of the CalHFA Homeowner Relief Corporation, which administered the California Mortgage Relief Program. In that role, she led the design and execution of the program that provided more than $907 million in grants to California households who struggled with housing payments due to the pandemic.

"Ms. Franklin's extensive experience as a state agency leader and the diverse roles she has served within CalHFA give her a comprehensive understanding of both operational and programmatic needs," said Tomiquia Moss, Secretary of the Business, Services and Housing Agency. "I am confident that her leadership and commitment to growth will greatly benefit not only the organization but, more importantly, the people of California."

McFadden, who was appointed by the CalHFA Board of Directors, brings extensive affordable housing experience to CalHFA after holding previous positions of Chief Lending Officer at Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) and Senior Advisor for HUD's Office of Multifamily Production.

She will oversee a CalHFA lending team that set an Agency record last fiscal year with $2 billion in lending and bond issuance and an asset management division that monitors more than 18,000 units of affordable housing.

Celebrating new affordable housing

The opening of an affordable housing development means dozens or even hundreds of families experiencing a life changing moment - and that is something to celebrate.

CalHFA representatives including Board Members Preston Prince and Anamarie Avila Farias, Director of Financing Erwin Tam and Housing Finance Officer Kevin Brown have been on hand for four such celebrations, each marking the opening of a development with financing through CalHFA's Mixed-Income Program (MIP).

Terracina at The Dunes, which brings 142 affordable units to Marina in Monterey County held an event on Oct. 10. It was developed by USA Properties in collaboration with CalHFA, CTCAC and other private partners.

Previous events included openings for The Kelsey Ayer Station's 115 affordable units in San Jose with 25% reserved for persons with disabilities, College Creek's 164 affordable units in Santa Rosa and 921 Howard St. in San Francisco. That development will provide 203 affordable units, which are very close to public transit.

Due to receiving financing through CalHFA's MIP program, these developments will provide affordable housing at a mix of income levels. MIP launched in 2019 and since then has provided financing to help construct 9,684 units.

CalHFA's has made its initial MIP awards for 2024, and is in the process of completing underwriting before making final commitments.

Dream For All Phase 1 honored

For the second year in a row, CalHFA heard its name called during the awards ceremony at the 2024 National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) conference.

This year, Phase 1 of the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation loan program brought home the glory as it won an award in the Homeownership: Empowering New Homeowners category.

The recognition stems for CalHFA designing a brand new delivery model for down payment assistance with shared appreciation in 2023, which would not have been possible without help from our private lending and real estate partners and collaboration with local, state and federal government partners including the Newsom Administration and the State Legislature.

Last year, CalHFA was honored with NCSHA awards for its ADU program and for an overhaul of its financing process.

"Buena" news for Anaheim development

In September, the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition honored a 69-unit affordable housing development in Anaheim that was financed in part through CalHFA's Special Needs Housing Program (SNHP).

Buena Esperanza, which provides permanent supportive housing to 69 formerly homeless residents living with a mental health diagnosis, earned the Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award in the Housing for Veterans of the Armed Forces category.

It was developed by Jamboree Housing Corporation in partnership with the other private partners, the City of Anaheim and CalHFA which administered MHSA funds in collaboration Orange County's Health Agency.

Though the program is no longer available, CalHFA's SNHP administered MHSA funds to help finance developments with more than 3,300 units of affordable housing.

CalHFA's work with Latinos

Although the state celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, CalHFA works in the Latino community year-round; let's take a quick look at CalHFA's efforts to provide housing solutions to that historically disadvantaged group.

To provide a baseline, the 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey data showed that 25.3% of the 7.5 million Californians that owned their homes at that time identified as Hispanic/Latino.

In Fiscal Year 2023-24, 47% of the homebuyers CalHFA helped identify as Hispanic/Latino. That's more than 2,800 families from that community getting their first opportunity to build generational wealth.

Additionally, the California Mortgage Relief Program and CalHFA's NMS Housing Counseling Program are directing outreach toward Hispanic/Latino Californians who are struggling with housing issues. In fact, the Mortgage Relief Program's 37% of grants going to households in that community is matched exactly by 37% of the households that have received free housing counseling through the NMS program. That's 1,900 Hispanic/Latino families receiving counseling and a whopping 13,700 Mortgage Relief grants to households in that community.

Bond sale supports affordable housing

In late 2024, CalHFA sold $107 million in affordable housing revenue bonds to support the Agency's continuing mission to create and preserve affordable housing for thousands of California families each year.

Designated as Sustainability Bonds in alignment with the state's environmental and social values, the bonds in the recent sale are part of a larger, multiyear bond indenture that started with an $84.9 million offering in 2023.

"Over the past several years, CalHFA has built up its financial strength to be in the position to bring hundreds of millions in private investment capital into a state that has finite resources for affordable housing," said CalHFA Chief Deputy Director Rebecca Franklin, who noted that the bonds were rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by S&P, both with stable outlooks.

The California State Treasurer's Office served as the Agent of Sale.

ICYMI: Dream For All success story

The second phase of the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation loan program saw CalHFA issue vouchers to 1,700 first-generation homebuyers at the end of June.

As detailed in this news report from KCAL Los Angeles, the Guimet family is using Dream For All to save $1350 a month on their mortgage as they move into their first home in Beaumont, a Southern California city between Riverside and Palm Springs.