V.I. Slice Home Ownership Program Weeks Away From Operationalization, EDA CEO Tells Lawmakers

V.I. Slice, the program announced last October by Governor Albert Bryan Jr., appears to be just weeks away from beginning to offer financing to fund down payments on home purchases, construction and renovations for residents who qualify through their banks.

Administered by the V.I. Economic Development Authority in partnership with the Office of the Governor and the Office of Disaster Recovery, the V.I. Slice Moderate Income Homeownership Program was created to help first-time homeowners with accessing financial assistance to purchase, renovate or build a home.

EDA Chief Executive Officer Wayne Biggs Jr. told legislators on the Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications this week that as soon as the first memorandum of agreement from a participating financial institution is signed, the bank portal will be opened to receive applications.

According to Mr. Biggs, the institution’s attorneys are currently reviewing the MOA, and he expects to get assurance from some of the other lending agencies in the coming days. "By the feedback we're getting we expect that by the end of this week we'll have a couple of those executed," he said.

“We thought it was very straight forward for the most part but they're also making sure, not only local but it also adheres to federal law and particularly mortgage lending," Mr. Biggs continued, adding that "each bank will have their own portal so there's no sharing of information between the banks so one doesn't interface with the other. So as soon as I get that first bank, we're going to open the portal and our first bank is going to start uploading stuff."

He anticipates that both local banks within the territory as well as private lending institutions will form part of the VIEDA’s clientele. “They are telling us that they have loans in the pipelines and their representatives and their mortgage lenders are waiting just for the MOAs to be finally negotiated and reviewed by their attorneys and executed so they can send us applications”.