ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta announced a new no-fee microloan program to help keep renters from being displaced during hard financial times.
According to the announcement from the office of Mayor Andre Dickens, the program is part of the recently passed Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative, a $5 billion project to improve housing and affordability in the city.
The No-Fee Microloan Anti-Displacement Program will run with a two-year pilot, giving households that are vulnerable a chance to avoid eviction.
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“The Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative is about investing in communities while making sure the people who have called them home can stay and benefit from that progress,” Dickens said in a statement. “Sometimes the difference between stability and crisis is a few hundred dollars at the wrong time. This pilot gives us another tool to step in early, help families stay in their homes and prevent a temporary setback from becoming an eviction.”
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The program is zero cost and zero fee, and will let eligible households receive a $500, no-fee, no-interest, no penalty loan to help avoid missing a housing payment.
The mayor’s office said households that receive these microloans will then have to pay $20 per week back over 25 weeks to repay the loans, all without a need for collateral.
The program also does not require credit checks, interest, fees, credit reporting or collections for the loans.
The first round of funding for the program will come in the form of $50,000 from the City of Atlanta. Airbnb also gave $50,000 for loan costs, while the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta and the William Josef Foundation each gave $150,000 for loan capital.
Non-profit organization the Flagstone Initiative, founded in 2022, will manage the program for the city during its two-year pilot.
Those interested in the program can go online here or contact Atlanta’s Housing Help Center.
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