LEIMERT PARK : Center Paves Way for Home Purchases

Nearly a year after opening its doors with a vow to help increase home ownership in central Los Angeles, the Operation Hope Vision Center is keeping its promise--though business is not yet moving at the pace it set.

Since opening, the nonprofit center has approved 40 loans--about 27% of the applications--totaling $3.5 million, said executive director Lance Triggs. The approval rate, he said, is “right at the industry average, though we would like to see it higher.�

“But considering the fact that we don’t really advertise, that we use non-traditional methods to approve loans for people who are usually turned down at banks, the results have been very good.�

The Vision Center opened at 4300 Degnan Blvd. as the residential lending arm of Operation Hope, a nonprofit agency founded in 1992 by businessman John Bryant to stimulate economic development in the inner city.

Citing the importance of home ownership in developing a stake in the community, Bryant structured the center as an alternative to residents who have steady incomes but whose less-than-sterling credit prevents them from obtaining loans at traditional banks.

Loan representatives at the Vision Center work with clients, building a credit portfolio in six to 12 months that will guarantee them a home loan at the end of that time--provided they follow a set schedule of paying creditors on time and attending periodic financial workshops.

The center’s four participating institutions include First Federal Bank of California, Southern Pacific Thrift & Loan, First Republic Thrift & Loan and Fidelity Federal Bank.

“We’re getting anybody and everybody (applying),� Triggs said. “Not everyone is going to qualify right away. But we stress that we can help just about everyone improve their credit profile.�

Triggs said that the problem with many applicants is not cash flow, but an unwillingness to make the commitments necessary in the center’s case management program, which requires loan recipients to come in for monthly financial counseling.

“Unfortunately, it’s hard for some people to stay focused,� said Triggs. “This process can take up to a year. Also, a lot of people in the community have been conditioned to believe they simply can’t qualify for a home loan. They don’t even avail themselves of basic information like a credit report.�

Currently, 10 clients are in case management and eight others with the worst credit histories are attending counseling sessions to prepare them for the loan application.

Loans that have been approved average about $128,000 for purchases made in Los Angeles, Compton, Inglewood and other areas, said Triggs. Nearly half of the approvals, he added, were done quickly--the applicants would most likely have qualified at traditional banks.

“They felt intimidated by big banks and said they liked the personal attention they got here,� said Triggs, seated in an airy office with colorful African prints and fabrics adorning the walls.

Triggs and Bryant say they are shooting for $12 million in loans this year, a goal they say is realistic now that another lender--Glendale Federal Bank--is coming on board next month.

The center was originally slated to start with six, but Bryant said the need for alternative home-lending routes was too great to wait.

“What we really want to do is run ourselves out of the home-loan business,� he said. “But we want to create such a track record that lending institutions will come into the community and do it on their own.�