Homeownership Resources
Habitat Wake adheres to a homeowner selection process that chooses applicants who have a need to improve their housing situation and have the ability to pay a modest monthly mortgage payment. Persons considering applying should review homeownership qualifications prior to submitting an application. Additional local organizations that provide services and information to assist with affordable homeownership in Wake County:
- Housing Services from Wake County Government
- Free Credit Report from a credit bureau
- Credit Counseling from Triangle Family Service
- Rental Housing Locator from Carolinas Council for Affordable Housing
Services from Wake County Government
Wake County government provides support services and housing that improve the quality and stability of tenants lives while increasing independence. The Wake County website at www.wakegov.com/humanservices/housing/supportivehousing/links can help you to find affordable homes to rent or purchase as well as information about credit and mortgage financing.
Note: Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is not a Wake County government agency.
Free Credit Report
To determine an applicant's ability to pay a modest mortgage, Habitat Wake will verify that the applicant has a reasonably good credit history. Reasonably good credit means that the applicant has:
- no non-medical collections, items and accounts less than $1,000 (if any exist, applicant must payoff prior to applicant's house being built)
- no unsatisfied judgments on credit report or civil records
- the ability to manage any outstanding credit within a budget
If you are considering submitting an applyication for a home and would like to know your credit history, the best approach is to obtain a credit report that specifically lists your credit arrangements and your successes/failures making payments as agreed. Habitat Wake cannot provide this report; you must request a report from a separate agency.
This is a good opportunity for you to confirm your credit report is accurate. (Research shows that 79% of credit reports contain errors and 25% of these errors are serious enough to cause denial of credit!) Checking your credit report to make sure it is accurate and taking action to resolve credit problems are critical steps in the process to becoming a homeowner. (Also, with reasonably good credit, you could pay a lot less for car and house loans as well as car and house insurance.)
Beginning September 2005, everyone in North Carolina became entitled to one FREE credit report from EACH of the credit bureaus every 12 months. The three credit bureaus that provide credit reports are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To request a credit report you can go online or call the authorized agency that provides free credit reports. (Habitat Wake cannot provide credit reports to applicants.) Here's how to request your free credit report:
- Go to this website: www.annualcreditreport.com and follow instructions
- Toll free call: 1-877-322-8228 and follow the automated voice prompts to request that a copy of your credit report be mailed to you
The agency that runs this website and call center is the only authorized agency that can process free reports. Via the website or phone, you will be asked to provide:
- your name,
- your current address,
- your Social Security Number,
- your date of birth, and
- information only you would know, such amount of your monthly car payment. (Requesting information that only you know helps prevent others from accessing your credit history).
Warning: Protect your personal information and account information from being used by others. Beware of advertisements that you see with similar names, websites, or phone numbers as the three credit bureaus! Never give out personal information to any other company claiming to process free credit reports.
Credit Counseling
If your credit does not meet the criteria outlined and you apply for Habitat homeownership, then your application will not be approved. If you have minor credit problems, it may take you three to six months of resolving the issue to get your credit in good standing; more serious problems will take longer. You will be welcome to re-apply once your credit report reflects that you have reasonably good credit.
If you need help to resolve credit issues, there are organizations who do not charge for helping. Please consider working with a consumer credit agency, such as Triangle Family Services that can help you resolve credit issues free of charge. (Triangle Family Services is a local United Way agency helping families and children throughout the Triangle. Contact the organization at 919.821.0790 or www.tfsnc.org.)
Rental Housing Locator
The housing locator service provided by Carolinas Council for Affordable Housing (not administred by Habitat Wake) allows people to locate available housing that best fits their individual and family needs. The service can be accessed online 24 hours a day and is supported by a toll-free, bilingual call center Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EST. Individuals can easily search for housing using a wide variety of search criteria with special mapping features and receive apartment listings that provide a multitude of important information about each unit. In addition, the site connects people to other housing resources through website links and provides helpful tools for renters such as an affordability calculator, rental checklist, and renter rights and responsibilities information.
Visit www.nchousingsearch.com and click "How to Use this Site" and "Find Housing" for leads to search for rental properties base on rent or number of bedrooms. The site also provides helpful charts on how to make a budget and how to plan for moving expenses.
If you do not have Internet access, call toll-free: English: 1.877.428.8844 Espaņol: 1.877.428.8844 ext. 204
