By Cameron Chisholm and Mohammad Ramim
Habitat for Humanity just handed the keys to five families in Philadelphia for their own homes in its Coltrane Commons development. These homes, in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia, have affordable mortgages with zero percent interest on the 30-year term!
RHLS Senior Counsel Judy Berkman has worked with Habitat for over a decade, representing Habitat to develop affordable homeownership for sale to first-time homebuyers. She was joined on this project by summer legal intern Cameron Chisholm who worked with Judy on drafting several loan closing documents for each of the 5 closings. Senor Staff Attorney Cindy Daley and former Staff Attorney Justin Hollinger previously worked on the design and construction agreements for Habitat.
Cameron had this to say about the experience: “As an intern, I was able to aid in the process of entering and verifying all the information on multiple documents such as the mortgage, note, etc. Additionally, I was able to witness these new homeowners sign the finalizing documents and take the keys to their new homes! This was a phenomenal experience as a first-year intern and an opportunity to witness the sweat and tears that go into the process of buying an affordable home.”
Judy added, “It’s such an honor to work with such a great team at Habitat and a privilege to meet the buyers who have worked so hard to become owners.”
The families got a financial boost from a variety of programs that came together to make these homes uniquely affordable. Philly First gave closing cost grants, United Way IDA provided a double match on the buyers’ IDA savings accounts, plus all the buyers saved the Habitat-required $3,000 for closing costs.
All the mortgage principal payments are less than $600/month, plus the monthly escrow payments for insurance and taxes. Special thanks to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) for conveying the land to Habitat at nominal value.