Fort Lewis College is trying to help its employees find affordable housing solutions through its Employee Mortgage Assistance Program.
Working with the HomesFund, FLC will finance below-market loans for qualifying staff and faculty. The loan program received $1 million in program funding from the FLC Board of Trustees and the FLC Foundation Board in December 2021.
The program funds will be administered up to $70,000 per household through HomesFund. It will serve as a down payment for a primary residence.
Applicants must be employed by FLC in a full-time permanent position, which is considered 32 hours per week or more, and have been employed by FLC for at least one year.
Borrowers also may not own other residential property in La Plata, Archuleta, San Juan, Dolores, Montezuma or San Juan (New Mexico) counties, at the time of application.
They also may not own other residential property elsewhere at the time of closing, however, concurrent closings of departure homes outside of those counties are allowed in the instance that the applicant is moving from outside of the area.
Borrowers cannot exceed a household income of 150% average median income for La Plata County. Borrowers under 50% AMI must have strong compensating factors and additional counseling.
Homebuyer education must also be taken within the 24 months before closing on the purchase of a home. Housing counseling also required before closing on the purchase of a home.
The average cost of a single-family home in Durango is $728,056, which is far above the national average of $543,600.
Based on a survey taken by the college last fall, just under 60% of employees own a home, and about 40% are renters.
“About 10 people have reached out with questions since we announced the launch of the program, and next week there are about 40 people registered for an information session about the program,” said FLC spokeswoman Lauren Pope.
In addition, FLC is trying to respond to homebuyer concerns over limited housing inventory and other significant barriers to purchasing a home in Durango.
To help with those barriers, FLC reserved six townhomes at the Animas City Park Overlook project in north Durango.
“Our intent is to continue providing this option, but we first need to see if this reservation is utilized by staff and faculty,” Pope said. “If it goes well, then we’ll absolutely try to repeat it in the future in another development.”
The townhomes include five two-bed/two-bath units and one three-bed/two-bath units. The units are being held for purchase by FLC faculty and staff until June 13. After, they will become available on the open market.
The properties are expected to be completed by the fall and can be purchased with help from the Employee Mortgage Assistance Program.
“The Agave Group was working with the city of Durango to find a way to reserve units for the local workforce,” said FLC housing strategy and development manager Kelsey Deckert in a news release. “They thought a partnership with a long-standing employer like FLC would be a great fit.”
Steven Schwartz, FLC vice president of finance and administration, said the college is trying find a way to help existing employees navigate the housing crisis.
“The ultimate goal, of course, is to help recruit and retain faculty and staff,” Schwartz said in a news release. “We want to attract and retain the highest quality faculty and staff to provide the best student experience possible.”
tbrown@durangoherald.com
