Are you Eligible to Buy a SCLT home?

Selection Criteria

The following criteria is from our Appendix A: Selection Policy found in the back of our application. It reflects the Sitka Community Land Trust's goal to reasonably match household size to unit size and household income to housing costs. [Note: some funding sources which the Sitka Community Land Trust may rely on to develop its community land trust (CLT) housing opportunities establish maximum eligible incomes of 80% to 120% of the area median income.] The selection process will conclude with a lottery if there are more applicants than homes available.

Threshhold Selection Criteria

• Majority Age and Citizen of USA Must be US Citizen or Registered Alien, age 18 or older.
• Income Eligibility SCLT has determined that it will restrict its permanently affordable housing to households within incomes below 120% of Sitka median income, adjusted for family size. The SCLT will also target senior households as well as households that are, by federal definition, “low-income” – i.e., households with incomes below 80% AMI – consistent with its IRS designation as a tax-exempt, “charitable” organization. The lender will help you determine eligibility for a loan. The following chart will help you determine your income elgibility. We encourage prospective homebuyers who make less than 80% AMI to check with a lender to see if they may qualify for a home mortgage loan.

FY 2022 INCOME LIMITS SUMMARY (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HUD 2022)

• Financial Criteria
  Creditworthiness: In all cases, a household must be able to demonstrate a sense of ownership of its financial obligations, and a history of responsible effort to meet them.
  Pre-qualified: The household, must be "pre-qualified" through the Lender's application process to determine whether mortgage financing is likely to be obtained by the household based on the applicant’s available cash resources and the known requirements of various mortgage programs for which the household may be eligible.
    Minimum Income: To be considered for Sitka Community Land Trust homeownership opportunities, a household’s monthly income, when multiplied by the appropriate debt-to-income ratio, must be sufficient to support the housing costs for the housing opportunity in question. In general, households that require a cosigner in order to obtain a mortgage will not be considered.
      Affordability: (i.e. matching household income to housing cost). In general, affordable means that the monthly cost of occupying a particular housing unit does not exceed 28% - 36% of monthly household income, depending on the applicable lender’s guidelines.
      Assets: To be considered for Sitka Community Land Trust homeownership opportunities, a review of a household's financial resources and circumstances should clearly indicate a limited ability to compete successfully in the conventional housing market in Sitka.

Secondary Selection Criteria

The following circumstances, not necessarily in order of priority or importance, will be considered in those instances when there are two or more households expressing interest in a particular unit and who meet the Threshold Eligibility Criteria outlined above.

• Community involvement: Residents having demonstrated involvement with and commitment to the community as evidenced by organizational memberships and/or participation in, support for, or sponsorship of non-profit, church or civic groups/events, etc.
• Heirs. If “heir property” is sold to the Sitka Community Land Trust, any heir of the former owner(s) that meets the Threshold Eligibility Criteria outlined above, and who has properly filed a CLT homeownership application will be given special consideration.
• Need: In general, the Sitka Community Land Trust will give consideration to the lower-income household for its community land trust program. The Sitka Community Land Trust will give special consideration for its community land trust program to households facing immediate or near-term displacement, especially if children are involved.
• Application on File. Length of time which a household's application for homeownership has been on file.
• Community Land Trust Homeownership: The Sitka Community Land Trust wishes to link with other resale restricted housing organizations in other communities to provide the same kind of mobility within the "resale-restricted" housing market as exists in the unrestricted housing marketplace. In other words, Sitka CLT desires to enable CLT homeowners to convert their "limited" equity stake in one community into another such home ownership option in another community. Thus, length of ownership of a Sitka CLT home, and/or the length of ownership of a home in another CLT will be considered. Involvement in the Sitka Community Land Trust’s operation and general activities will also be considered.
• First-time homebuyers. Defined as someone who has not owned a principal residence in the past three years; or a single parent who may have owned a home with a former spouse in the past three years but now no longer resides there.
• Appropriate Size - (i.e. matching household size to unit size). In general, households consisting of the number of persons appropriate for the unit size will be given preference.