State looks to enlist private lenders in loans to teachers

The Nevada Housing Division is moving quickly to get private-sector partners in place to handle a new mortgage program designed to help recruit teachers.

Executives of the division hope to have the new program dubbed "Teachers First Home Loan" in place by mid-April.

The state will make $4 million available for second mortgages to help teachers make down payments on homes. The program targets teachers in high-demand areas that include science, math and special education.

The state has the money available from repayments to an earlier home-loan program created in the early 1990s. The maximum loan to teachers in the new program will be $15,000.

School districts who are recruiting teachers will decide which applicants will be eligible for the mortgage assistance.

The loan application process will be handled by private-sector lenders.

Lon DeWeese, the administrative services officer for the housing division, said the agency expects to choose firms to handle the new program from among lenders who have worked on the state's ongoing program to assist first-time homebuyers.

At least two lenders will be selected in each region of the state.

Teachers who are selected to participate in the new program will receive homebuyer education as part of their loan approval.

Gov. Jim Gibbons, who pushed development of the program, said it's designed to retain teachers.

"Research shows that those teachers who maintain employment in a school district are more likely to stay in that community and continue to teacher there," the governor said in a statement when the program was unveiled.

At the maximum assistance of $15,000 per teacher, the $4 million fund would support about 265 loans but state officials view it as a revolving fund.

"We need to be able to recycle that money for other teachers down the road," said Chas Horsey, administrator of the housing division.

Washoe County School District officials say the idea has promise.

"It would be a nice benefit for our new teachers, and would be something that we could utilize on an on-going basis in our recruitment efforts," said Tom Stauss, the district's assistant superintendent for human resources.