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The Ohio Housing Finance Agency offers affordable housing
opportunities for Ohioans from rental assistance to homeownership.
OHFA provides access to financial resources for the development
and management of quality, affordable housing. The Agency's
programs serve first-time homebuyers, renters, senior citizens and
other populations with special needs who otherwise might not be
able to afford quality housing.
The Agency's affordable housing programs are supported
primarily by revenues raised through the issuance, private sale
and repayment of tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds. The issuance of "AAA" rated bonds enables OHFA
to provide mortgage loans to qualified homebuyers at interest rates
below those in the conventional market. Capital raised from the
issuance of the bonds supports the public purpose of financing new
and existing affordable homeownership opportunities for individuals
and families with low and moderate incomes.
OHFA, formerly a division of the Ohio Department of Development, became an independent state agency on July 1, 2005 through Amended Substitute House Bill (HB) 431. As an independent
agency, OHFA will have the opportunity to institute cost-saving
measures and achieve efficiencies to better serve the long-term
affordable housing needs of Ohioans.
The Administration office is committed to providing quality centralized
services and specialized support to the Agency. The office is responsible
for recruiting and training personnel, processing payroll, procuring
goods and services, providing telephone and mail service, overseeing
facilities management and building security, and performing a variety
of other services to expedite the effective operation of the Agency.
The Communications and Marketing
office promotes the Agency's programs and services to the media, legislators,
general public and other state agencies. The Communications office
writes and distributes news releases to generate interest in the
state's housing efforts, and works directly with statewide radio,
television and newspaper outlets educating the media on OHFA activities
as well as responding to inquiries. The Agency's marketing initiatives
are implemented through the marketing arm of the office.
The Finance office provides fiscal management and accounting for
the Agency and its programs. In its history, OHFA has issued over
$9.6 billion in single family mortgage revenue bonds and $543 million
in multifamily revenue bonds. The office currently manages more
than $2.7 billion in combined mortgage bonds payable and represents
the Agency with bond counsel, bond trustees and investment bankers.
The office acts as loan servicer
for affordable housing loans and down payment assistance loans which
currently total approximately $227 million.
The office of Homeownership works to ensure that families earning
low to moderate incomes have access to affordable housing by providing
low-interest loans and down payment assistance statewide. With the
help of the state's real estate professionals and mortgage lenders,
OHFA's program offers competitive interest rates to first-time
homebuyers and persons purchasing homes in targeted reinvestment
areas designated by HUD.
The federal Mortgage Revenue Bond Program is the foundation
of OHFA's First-Time Homebuyer Program. By
issuing tax-exempt bonds, the Agency is able to reduce mortgage
costs for eligible homebuyers. This program may be used in conjunction
with FHA, VA, USDA Rural Development, and conventional financing.
By providing more than $6.5 billion in mortgage loans, OHFA has
helped over 100,000 Ohioans become homeowners.
The Ohio Heroes Program offers a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to first-time homebuyers who are active military personnel or military veterans, firefighters or emergency medial technicians-paramedics, healthcare workers, police officers or teachers.
The Opportunity Loan is a refinance program that provides an affordable 30-year, fixed-rate financing alternative to borrowers who have a current mortgage that is no longer suitable for their financial situation.
The office of Information Technology is a customer service oriented
office that provides network, desktop and application support to
users both internal to OHFA and to its satellite offices. The office
strives to provide leadership, insight and direction to the executive
staff on the strategic use of information technology to support
core business processes and to achieve mission critical goals.
The office of Planning, Preservation and Development plays an integral
role in developing affordable rental housing for Ohioans. Through
the Housing Credit and Housing Development Loan Programs, OHFA provides
the necessary incentives to encourage nonprofit and for-profit developers
to increase affordable housing stock targeted to Ohio's low- and
moderate-income individuals and families.
The Housing Credit Program is the most widely
used financial incentive program for the production of affordable
housing. The housing credit is provided to states by the federal
government on a per capita basis. The housing credit provides a
dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal taxes. Once these credits
are awarded to project sponsors, they are typically sold to raise
equity for the development of the project. To date, OHFA has awarded
approximately $339 million in housing credits resulting in the creation
of more than 87,400 affordable housing units.
The Housing Development Loan Program provides
the bridge financing and construction loan interest savings that
can make the difference regarding project viability. More than $763
million in housing development loans have been used in the financing
of over 31,300 housing units.
The Housing Development Assistance Program (HDAP)
provides eligible nonprofit and for-profit organizations with funds
for eligible housing projects to expand the supply of decent, safe,
affordable housing for very low-income persons and households in
Ohio. Since 2000, OHFA has approved $162 million in HDAP funds resulting
in 16,500 affordable housing units.
The Multifamily Bond Program is another
tool OHFA uses to increase housing opportunities. This program is
focused on financing multifamily housing through the issuance and
sale of tax-exempt development bonds. Over $454 million in rental
housing development bonds have been used to help finance 9,700 multifamily
housing units.
The Community Housing Development Organization
(CHDO) Competitive Operating Grant Program is a source of operating
support for qualified nonprofit organizations. The funds assist
nonprofits in becoming self-sufficient. Approximately $1,000,000
annually is made available to CHDOs. The CHDO Competitive Operating
Grant Program is also responsible for certifying new CHDOs.
The office of Program Compliance is responsible for monitoring more
than 1,000 tax credit properties throughout Ohio. OHFA's tax credit compliance staff ensures
that low-income Ohioans continue to receive safe, decent and affordable
housing by monitoring for compliance with Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) program regulations. File reviews, physical inspections and
a review of Annual Owner Reports submitted to the Agency fulfill
the expectations outlined in the IRS regulations.
The HDAP compliance staff monitors HDAP
properties across the State of Ohio. Once the office of Planning,
Preservation and Development has closed a property from the construction
or rehabilitation process, it is assigned to the Program Compliance
office. An inspection of the HDAP units and the relevant files is
scheduled to assure compliance with the unit size and financial
status of qualified units. Monitoring properties for safe, decent
and sanitary housing is the mission of the Program Compliance office.
Doug Garver, Executive Director
(614) 466-8050
dgarver@ohiohome.org
Blaine Brockman, Assistant Executive Director
(614) 387-1668
bbrockman@ohiohome.org
Brian Carnahan, Director of Program Compliance
(614) 728-5608
bcarnahan@ohiohome.org
Bob Connell, Director of Debt Management
(614) 466-3943
rconnell@ohiohome.org
Barbara Creech, Director of Administration
(614) 644-7633
bcreech@ohiohome.org
Cindy Flaherty, Director of Homeownership
(614) 466-6886
cflaherty@ohiohome.org
Dawn Larzelere, Director of Legislative Affairs
(614) 995-1092
dlarzelere@ohiohome.org
Marlo Tannous, Chief Legal Counsel
(614) 644-9402
mtannous@ohiohome.org
Kelly Taylor, Director of Communications and Marketing
(614) 728-4270
ktaylor@ohiohome.org
Sean Thomas, Director of Planning, Preservation
and Development
(614) 644-5772
sthomas@ohiohome.org
Paul Vawter, Chief Information Officer
(614) 644-2444
pvawter@ohiohome.org
Don West, Chief Financial Officer
(614) 644-7039
dwest@ohiohome.org
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