State and tribal governments traditionally mistrust each other. But a state agency in New Mexico is an absolute model of cooperation when it comes to housing finance on that state’s reservations.
The New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority has funded a running total of $47.1 million for state tribal projects, helping finance 776 housing units since 1993.
MFA has funded housing developments in 17 of New Mexico’s 22 tribes (the Navajo Nation, two Apache tribes and 19 pueblo village tribes), according to statistics released by MFA tribal housing specialist Eric Schmieder. MFA also has funded a project for homeless Indians living in Albuquerque.
Amounts have ranged from extremely modest ($1,500 to fund housing fairs at the Sandia and Laguna pueblos in 1993 and 1995) to quite substantial ($9.3 million to the Shiprock Community Development Corp. to develop projects on the New Mexico side of the giant Navajo Nation).
Other large awards include $7.7 million in 2004 to the Laguna pueblo for new rentals and rental rehabs, and $7.4 million in 2007 to the Mescalero Apache Housing Authority for two projects totaling 60 units.
MFA’s biggest year for Indian housing finance was 2007, when it funded 182 housing units for a total of $17.1 million. In 2011 to date it has funded $1.6 million to support 49 units at Ohkay Owingeh and San Felipe pueblos.
Purposes for loans include infrastructure, rehabilitation, single-family housing construction, green projects, roof repairs, supportive housing and rentals. Most are for multifamily projects, but some are for single-family homeowner rehabs.
More than a dozen types of loans or grants have been made to the state’s tribes. These include MFA’s own Primero loan, used to provide construction/infrastructure/rehab finance, the federal HOME and tax credit programs they administer, the Housing Trust Fund, and the Energy$aver and Payment$aver programs.
Recipients ranged from Indian Housing Authorities, the Northern Pueblo Housing Authority consortium, CDFI Native Community Finance (Laguna pueblo), First Nations Supportive Housing and Habitat for Humanity.
The Laguna pueblo has seen seven different projects awarded to the tribe or native groups on the pueblo to support 122 units of housing. Ohkay Owingeh followed with the second-most fundings, with six.
The most recent one on Laguna was in 2010 to Native Community Finance, a CDFI based on Laguna but open for borrowing by any tribal resident in New Mexico. That financing for $400,000 funded a construction loan revolving line of credit.
