COLUMN: Carmel Hopkins

I've met Santa Claus. Her real name is Jan Dunagan.

At this time of year, it's refreshing to cut through all the "bah humbug-isms" running through bureaucracies and find someone who, almost single-handedly, is making a difference.

Dunagan is a loan officer for Guild Mortgage Co. What makes her stand out is her specialty -- loans for the disabled.

She sits across the desk from people in need who want to buy a home. These aren't merely people who have low incomes, they are souls who have mental and physical disabilities.

She stresses, however, that people applying for a HomeChoice loan must have credit.

"They must be able to show a year's worth of utility bills, anything that shows a track record of responsibility," Dunagan said. "We can't do anything for people who have no credit."

Opportunity Village is very much in this mix. Corie Craig, of the Nevada partnership office of Fannie Mae, said U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's office was able to obtain a Special Purpose Grant that allotted funding help mentally challenged people to buy a home.

Dunagan said some of the loans she has processed under the HomeChoice program have been for clients of Opportunity Village or others who fall under their mission, which is to aid mentally as well as physically disabled residents.

"It's a great trade-off: the small amount of money used for a down payment gets clients into independent living and out of group homes, etc.," she said.

Dunagan has the first and last say about the loans.

Once the loan is made, it is sold to Fannie Mae, but Dunagan (and Guild Mortgage specifically) services it. Should a homeowner fall as far as 10 days in arrears, he gets a phone call and some type of follow-up ensures that the house payment gets made.

Craig said that of the 600 loans made under HomeChoice in the past six years, there have been only seven foreclosures.

Dunagan said North Las Vegas has come up with a funding program involving homeownership for the disabled.

"They're small enough to have a grip on things ... and Henderson is getting on the bandwagon."

An applicant's disability is documented at the time of loan application.

Information about the disability goes to Opportunity Village, should it meet the criteria for its mission. People with physical disabilities would be funded through the North Las Vegas program.

The down payments come under silent deeds of trust, or what Dunagan calls "silent seconds." She said the North Las Vegas silent seconds go as high as $14,000 and those from Opportunity Village can go even higher, depending on the client.

The North Las Vegas loans are forgivable at 20 percent per year and totally forgiven after five years. The Opportunity Village loans are never forgiven and must be paid back upon sale of the home. Neither loan charges interest.

Santa, I mean Dunagan, has been able to close about three dozen loans in the three years she has been doing it. These loans are labor intensive, but in Dunagan's case, it appears to be a labor of love.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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