BoA, Impact Ally to Fuel AH Creation

Bank of America has reported it will create 15,000 new affordable housing units over the next three years through what it says is a unique partnership with Impact Community Capital LLC of San Francisco, a secondary market investment entity providing $475 million in long-term community development funds.BoA's "Community Impact Loan Program" will provide financing to affordable housing developers, while 10 national insurance companies associated with Impact securitize up to $475 million in such loans over a period of three years. As the volume of loans generated through the community development process increases, BoA will deliver pools of these loans to Impact for evaluation through various major rating agencies. Following this evaluation process, the loans will be packaged into mortgage-backed securities using a format BoA said Impact has developed specifically "for the securitization of large scale pools of affordable housing mortgages." These securities will then be distributed among Impact's insurance companies. The insurers will serve as the ultimate investors.