NMHC gets $3.8-M for housing loan program

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday approved infusion of additional $3.8 million into a loan program administered by the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation to help low and middle-income families secure financing to build their homes.

The funds came from the $10 million loan package extended by the Marianas Public Land Trust in 1995 to the government housing agency for its various programs.

About $6.137 million have so far been used by NMHC to grant approximately 120 mortgage loans to local families, according to officials.

Lawmakers enacted a bill to allow the housing corporation to repay the debt through the annual revenues the MPLT divest into the local treasury.

“This bill is a result of a joint effort by [MPLT] and [NMHC] to enable the [housing corporation] to continue and expand the loan program to assist applicants to secure the necessary financing to construct their homes,” Mr. Tenorio said.

“In turn, the increased construction would help stimulate the economy,” he said in signing PL 12-27. NMHC and MPLT officials as well as some lawmakers attended the signing ceremony held at the governor’s office.

Sponsored by Rep. Antonio M. Camacho, the new law authorizes repayment of the $10 million loan from the MPLT’s annual remittance of between $1.2 million to $1.4 million.

It also grants a 10-year moratorium to NMHC on its debt service to the government.

The move was prompted by appeal from housing officials who disclosed the agency’s loan portfolio cannot be sold to commercial banks due to the debtor’s inability to qualify for financing.

NMHC has also noted that many have asked for their help in terms of funding for building a house on parcel of lands provided by the Division of Public Lands which has threatened to revoke the homestead permits for non-compliance.

According to MPLT, the housing agency does not have the current financing to grant new loans to the significant number of applicants who wish to avail themselves of the program and who cannot make timely repayment of their loans.

Meanwhile, the governor also signed PL 12-26 or the “Uniform Comparative Fault Act” which establishes the mechanism for settlement of which is responsible party in cases of accidents.

“I sign this measure into law because adoption of a comparative negligence is a more equitable solution to the determination of liability compared to the existing rule of contributory negligence which applied in the Commonwealth prior to the enactment of this” bill, Mr. Tenorio said.

Citing concerns over use of pure comparative negligence instead of modified, the local chief executive urged the Legislature to further amend the new law in response to requests by the CNMI Bar Association and the Northern Marianas Insurance Association.

Under a pure comparative negligence scheme, a plaintiff in a lawsuit could recover more in terms of an award than a defendant even if the plaintiff is found to be at greater fault in the case of accident, according to Mr. Tenorio. 

The modified scheme, on the other hand, bars a plaintiff from seeking recovery if his or her contribution to the accident reached a certain level, he said.