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Group Employs Public/Private Funding for Distressed Property Purchases

""U.S. Housing Renewal"":http://www.ushousingrenewal.com/ is a newly formed organization, created to help struggling Americans reclaim homeownership and help American financial institutions strengthen their balance sheets.
The Nashville-based group combines public and private funds for the purpose of purchasing non-performing housing assets from financial institutions and transforming these properties into two-year lease-to-own situations for families who have either lost their homes or have been unable to purchase in the current financial environment.
U.S. Housing Renewal explained that its public/private partnership structure will allow families to rebuild their credit, save for a cash down payment for their home, and complete a targeted educational course in personal finance to understand how to minimize spending and debt, all achieved while living in the home that they will eventually own. At the end of the two-year lease period, the families will purchase their home from the partnership at a discount to current market value, using both their cash down payment and a safe, conventional 30-year fixed mortgage loan.
The group's newly appointed CEO, Lon Cherry, commented, ""We all know that the American housing market is troubled, and I believe that U.S. Housing Renewal offers a 'win-win' solution for the banking system, the federal government, and, most importantly, the American people.""
According to U.S. Housing Renewal, the solution it offers addresses a specific part of the housing crisis that is being ignored by most politicians and policymakers. President Obama's recently announced foreclosure assistance package is intended to stop future foreclosures via mortgage modification and other tourniquet-like measures necessary to stop the financial bleeding.
However, U.S. Housing Renewal argues, this plan ignores the millions of hard-working individuals and families who have already lost their homes or whose financial situations have left them unable to claim the American Dream in the current credit environment. The solution offered by U.S. Housing Renewal, the company says, encompasses the best that public/private partnerships have to offer, by combining the resources of the federal government with a market-based mechanism for homeownership.
U.S. Housing Renewal is currently in discussions with several federal government agencies to acquire funding made available under both the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Bush administration's Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
All funds acquired will be held in trust until qualified properties are purchased, and then the deeds for these purchased properties will also remain in trust, the company explained. At the end of the partnership's anticipated three-year lifecycle, U.S. Housing Renewal said it will repay all invested capital, plus an investment-grade return, back to the sourcing government agency.

About Author: Carrie Bay

Carrie Bay is a freelance writer for DS News and its sister publication MReport. She served as online editor for DSNews.com from 2008 through 2011. Prior to joining DS News and the Five Star organization, she managed public relations, marketing, and media relations initiatives for several B2B companies in the financial services, technology, and telecommunications industries. She also wrote for retail and nonprofit organizations upon graduating from Texas A&M University with degrees in journalism and English.
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