THE Northern Marianas Housing Corporation on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide access to USDA’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program.

Present for the signing ceremony were Chris Kanazawa, USDA Rural Development state director; Joaquin Altoro, USDA Rural Housing Service administrator; NMHC Chair Marcie Tomokane; NMHC Corporate Director Jesse Palacios; Gov. Arnold I. Palacios; U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan; and NMHC staff. 

According to Altoro, through the partnership, NMHC will “work toward becoming a certified loan packager for the Rural Housing Service.” 

Altoro said NMHC will “reach more people in the Commonwealth who may be eligible for USDA home loans” as well as provide technical assistance to those applicants. 

NMHC will also “help potential applicants improve their ability to qualify” for a housing loan, and ensure that applications meet supporting document requirements. 

“Together, both organizations will work to ensure people have the resources and support needed to submit successful applications,” Altoro said.

During the signing ceremony, NMHC Corporate Director Jesse Palacios said there are around 350 applicants on NMHC’s waitlist. 

“As you can see from these numbers, there’s still a demand for affordable housing in the CNMI and we’re just happy to finally have this MOU in place so we can have additional funding to help out our community,” he said. 

Original article: https://www.mvariety.com/news/local/nmhc-signs-mou-with-usda-for-housing-loan-program/article_27520286-0247-11ef-b486-c7023f79475b.html