Schenectady, N.Y. — To nurture the American dream of home ownership in Schenectady, KeyBank and the City today launched a new “Key to the City” program offering affordable financing and additional financial education support. Key to the City offers very attractive features to attract and encourage new home buyers for owner-occupied properties. For example, income caps, which have traditionally limited access to such special home ownership programs for middle- and upper-income home buyers, will not be part of Key to the City, a feature intended to attract buyers of diverse income levels.

“Working with the City of Schenectady, we developed Key to the City to foster sustainable neighborhood growth and community improvement by packaging financial education with low-cost financing to promote the purchase and rehabilitation of the many available homes in Schenectady,” said Jeff Stone, president, Capital Region, KeyBank. “We are committed to supporting the ongoing efforts to rebuild this great city and are proud to invest in those efforts.”

“Schenectady has fared better than many communities during the recession, but we still have substantial numbers of foreclosed homes in the city,” said Gary McCarthy, acting mayor, City of Schenectady. “Also, some homeowners are struggling to pay for both their mortgage loans and upkeep, so that their properties deteriorate. Key to the City will attack both problems and help revitalize our neighborhoods.”

“The Schenectady business community salutes KeyBank and the City for collaborating in this useful and visionary program,” said Charles Steiner, president of the Chamber of Schenectady County. “For a healthy business climate, with all its benefits to both retail business and workforce development, it’s vital to support and sustain our residential neighborhoods.”

The Key to the City program features:

Up to 100 percent first mortgage financing on purchase transactions for1-2 unit, owner-occupied properties at affordable interest rates, with no private mortgage insurance (PMI) required,

• No upfront costs or application fees, unless the loan request is cancelled or denied,
• A discount on closing fees with a qualified KeyBank checking account
• Buyers must contribute $500 of own funds
• Sellers may contribute up to 6 percent toward closing costs or prepaid items on homes with a purchase price of $60,000 and under,
• A special Renew-a-Home provision allows financing up to 150 percent of the appraised value, including up to $50,000 for rehab costs when certain criteria is met,
• Prepurchase homebuyer education on home-buying for first-time homebuyers
• Voluntary quarterly postpurchase follow-up financial education,
• No maximum income cap on the purchase of properties in low-income and moderate-income (LMI) tracts. Income for borrowers in middle- and upper-income tracts must be less than 80 percent of the HUD median income which is not adjusted for family size
• All credit products are subject to credit approval and product parameters.

KeyBank chose to link affordable financing with financial education under the Key to the City banner due to its extensive experience in offering financial education as part of its commitment to providing financial services in LMI neighborhoods.

“We recognize that true growth and prosperity means more than just providing easier access to money,” explained Jeff Stone. “We have therefore created a program that adds financial education to help ensure successful home ownership.”

“We look to Key to the City to open the door for many families into home ownership in a growing city that will be proud to welcome them as neighbors,” said Gary McCarthy.

KeyBank representatives will administer the Key to the City program. Although the Renew-a-Home portion of the program encourages the use of local contractors, suppliers and tradespeople, the homeowner is responsible for the selection and oversight of such persons rather than KeyBank or the City of Schenectady. KeyBank will disburse the rehab funds upon approval of the repairs by the borrower and verification by an inspector that the repairs were made.