Dime Auction Sales Program

The Dime Auction Sales Program consisted of a public-private partnership between Dime Savings Bank and New York City Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The program provided financing to rehabilitate vacant, city-owned properties that had been recently auctioned off to homeowners. HPD auctioned the buildings, half of which were one- to four-family buildings, the other half of which were five- to ten-unit buildings, and then provided a 7.5-percent, 20-year fixed-rate mortgage to finance the sale. After purchasing the previously vacant city-owned properties, borrowers became eligible for 100-percent financing to gut rehabilitate the home from Dime Savings Bank. The 30-year Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) loan, subsidized by HPD funds, set the interest rate based on the borrowers annual income. HPD made funds available through two separate programs: the Harlem Rehab Program, which consisted of subsidies up to $60,000, and the Small Homes Auction Program, which consisted of subsidies up to $30,000 per borrower. Dime Savings Bank only made gut rehabilitation loans available for one- to four-unit family homes, but Section 312 funded financed five- to ten-unit properties. Borrowers who were ineligible for the rehabilitation loan took loans at market interest rates.

Program Information

• Alternative Names: Harlem Auction Sales Program, Small Homes Auction Program
• Scale: Small Scale (between 1 and 999 units)
• Timeframe: 1985 - 1989
• Occupancy Tenure: Homeownership
• Construction Type: Rehabilitation
• Building Type: Multi-family, One- to Four-family
• Developer/Owners: Government, Tenant
• Geographic Restrictions: Site-based Redevelopment