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range of home improvement and home buyer assistance loans and have about 60 programs. She stated that she is open to answering any questions the group may have and noted that she realizes that they are not the only entity that does this type of work. She stated that generally there is an RFP sent out and noted that they are usually.hired because the City's do not have the staff, in house, to administer these programs. She stated that she understands Commissioner Look's comments and stated that they do not want to create or continue a problem where people are in homes that they cannot afford. She stated that people will still have to qualify for a prime rate or fixed rate mortgage to be eligible for any additional incentives. Commissioner Elvig stated that he is not looking to give money away, but to help people get the chance to get their foot in the door. . . Associate Planner DaInes stated that she was concerned that, if the City just handed out money, people would just use it to buy a more expensive home that they really cannot afford, so she likes the idea of qualifying which would take care of that problem. Chairperson Olson asked if the City would just need to figure out how to structure the program and then just turn it over to GMHC to write the program and administer it. Ms. Snyder agreed that the City could develop guidelines and they would work with staff on a program to bring back to the BRA for final approval. She stated that they would create all the documents and forms as well as market and administer the program. Commissioner Elvig stated he would like to come up with a list of incentives, have some demographic studies and also include a list of fears and things the City would like to stay away from and then ask GMHC to craft a project. He stated that he still feels that there are already good programs out there, but people just don't know about them. Ms. Snyder agreed and stated that the City should really be working with local lenders and noted that some communities even choose participating lenders. Commissioner Dehen stated that GMHC administers programs for different cities and asked what would prevent them from directing people to certain communities based on the incentive packages, for example comparing Coon Rapids and Ramsey. Ms. Snyder stated that right now they are administering programs for Minneapolis and someone looking to locate in Ramsey vs. Minneapolis are two very different situations. Commissioner Dehen asked what if they were administering programs for Blaine, Coon Rapids and Ramsey. Ms. Snyder stated that their job is to inform people of what programs are available, not to steer people to one community over another. Housing and Redevelopment Authority I July 22, 2008 Page 6 of8 6