By Jimmy Settle
The Leaf-Chronicle

In spring 2003, an alternative to traditional mortgage loan financing was launched here for military families. Lenders intended to break down some of the unique barriers the troops may face in owning a home.

Then came the war in Iraq. Most of the potential customers were deployed, meaning they couldn't pursue the benefits of the new Home Front Mortgage program.

Now that they're back from Iraq, they're getting an extension of at least another year to take advantage of the program.

In a press conference Thursday at Public Square, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn joined the Fort Campbell Federal Credit Union, Affordable Housing Resources and Fannie Mae -- the nation's largest source of home mortgage financing -- to announce the extension of the $5 million mortgage pilot.

Home Front Mortgage is designed to help active-duty military personnel stationed at Fort Campbell buy houses in Tennessee or Kentucky by eliminating down payments and other factors that may impede the home-buying process.

Ralph Perrey, director of Fannie Mae's Tennessee Partnership Office, said the Home Front Mortgage will be available through at least June 2005 to give soldiers returning from Iraq an opportunity to take advantage of it.

"We decided that it makes good sense to extend it ... to give it a fair trial. There's a lot of interest in seeing whether this works -- to see if military families will take advantage of it and to test it from a business standpoint. Fort Campbell has been a great place to test the Home Front mortgage, and we are pleased that it has helped meet the needs of local families," Perrey said.

Blackburn, credited with initiating discussions in late 2002 to address "housing inequities facing Clarksville's military families," said it's the nation's obligation to "make the American dream available to those who are fighting to make the American dream available for all of us."

"We recognized that there were some mortgage inequities that exist for our military families," Blackburn said.

The Home Front Mortgage is designed to make qualifying for a home loan easier for soldiers. It features a no down-payment requirement and allows for greater underwriting flexibility. The program also allows military buyers to borrow closing costs.

Fort Campbell Federal Credit Union is offering the product in conjunction with Affordable Housing Resources, a nonprofit housing organization providing homeownership counseling to borrowers. Fannie Mae has committed to buy $5 million in eligible mortgages originated under the initiative by the Credit Union.

"The Fort Campbell Federal Credit Union is the first in the country to offer the Home Front Mortgage, and we are pleased to extend this exciting initiative for at least another year to meet the needs of our recently-returned soldiers," said John Moorhead, president of FCFCU. "The program was designed to be tested and evaluated for a one-year period ... but I'm happy to announce that the partners have agreed to extend it for an additional year to help the soldiers who have served in Iraq."

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