Campaign Launched to Undo Down Payment Ban

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act prohibits the Federal Housing Administration from insuring loans made with a seller-funded down payment. This essentially bans the practice since nearly all these loans are made with FHA-guaranteed financing. The ban takes effect Oct. 1, 2008.

The Nehemiah Corp. of America, the nonprofit responsible for arranging thousands of these loans, has launched a campaign and Web site to persuade Congress to override this aspect of the housing bill. The site includes a countdown clock tracking the end of DPA to the second, a blog and links to YouTube videos and to its MySpace and Facebook presence.

So far, more than 75,000 “letters” to Congress have been generated, according to Nehemiah. The goal is to triple or quadruple that by the time that countdown clock hits zero. Lifting the ban won’t be easy, but “I think that an active, organized American citizenry can change anything they choose to,” says Scott Syphax, Nehemiah’s president and CEO.Source: The Wall Street Journal, Dawn Wotapka (08/14/08)