|
|
|
|
On April 3, 2008 HUD issued an approval letter through the Department of Justice. Included in the letter is the following statement:
“HUD finds that PIN’s Grant America Program (“G.A.P.”) meets HUD’s
current policies pertaining to the source of gift funds for the
borrowers’ required cash investment for obtaining FHA insured
mortgage financing. Accordingly, HUD will insure mortgages that
meet FHA requirements in which home buyers obtain downpayment
assistance provided by PIN for the borrowers cash investments” As a federally recognized tribal government, the Penobscot Indian Nation (PIN) meets the definition of “government entity”, as defined in HUD Handbook 4155.1 Rev (5). On January 24, 2007, the PIN Tribal Counsel, in a vote of 10 to 1, passed Resolution 01-24-07-01, which was ratified by Chief Kirk E. Francis on January 29, 2007. This resolution created the PIN Fair Housing Administration and allowed for the creation of a national down payment assistance program to benefit low to moderate-income homebuyers across America. There are dozens of examples, both nationally and regionally, of tribal housing programs and down payment assistance programs that have been conducted for the last decade, which provide down payment assistance outside of a tribe’s geographic jurisdiction. In a few cases, these programs are being conduct by “public entities”, formerly referred to as “instrumentalities of government” or non-profits, owned by tribal governments and these programs have received specific approval by HUD to conduct these programs for “non-Indians” on “non-tribal” land. HUD does not approve government agency programs, only non-profit programs owned by government agency. There are thousands of examples of states, counties, municipalities and tribal governments that have provided aid to other states' residents. A recent example still on all of our minds would be the Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans. Governmental entities from all over the nation provided food, fire equipment, police, financial support and aid both indirectly and directly to the people of the Gulf States. There are no provisions in the US Constitution or Federal Statutes that specifically allow other jurisdictions to provide this aid to people outside of their jurisdiction, as some non-profit DPA's are now claiming. Furthermore, the people of PIN feel it is their duty, as Americans, to help others in need if the means are available. HUD specifically addresses this issue in Notice PIH 2006-34, Section 7. The relevant quote being, "Assistance is not limited to reservations. Essentially, an "Indian Area" under NAHASDA is anywhere a tribe undertakes affordable housing activities." Furthermore, Section 4 refers to funding affordable housing projects "...where the tribe has no sovereignty / civil jurisdiction." We can also point out several examples where HUD has specifically approved or has allowed programs to continue to operate for the last ten years, outside their geographic boundaries. Native Americans have a long history of social awareness and sense of community. This program is just another example of Native Americans reaching out to help all Americans, regardless of their bloodlines or heritage. The people of the Penobscot Indian Nation want to create awareness of their rich history by providing goodwill and promoting homeownership among their fellow American’s across this great country. Through their generosity, they hope that their brothers and sisters will learn about the Penobscot’s history, heritage and social customs, so that we may all become a part of a stronger nation. We do not condone or
tolerate increasing the sales price of a home to accommodate for
the fee paid to the Grant America Program. If we become
aware that the sales price has been raised to accommodate for
the fee we will cancel the transaction.
|
|
