Ward Joins Housing Development Fund

June 20, 2008; As originally appeared in The Commercial Record

The Housing Development Fund, a nonprofit bank providing funding for affordable housing and homebuyer assistance programs, has named Jason Ward as senior multifamily loan officer.

Ward will provide administrative and programmatic leadership for HDF's Multifamily Loan Fund. The fund has more than $28 million of financing available for purchasers and small developers of affordable multifamily units.

To date, HDF's multifamily group has funded construction, rehabilitation and preservation of more than 600 multifamily units.

Prior to joining HDF, Ward served as a commercial & commercial mortgage-backed securities underwriting consultant for Zenta in New York. Previously, he was in the equity/debt underwriting group at Charter Mac in New York, and also served in its Fannie Mae delegated underwriting program and Freddie Mac risk share underwriting team.

Jason is an ideal addition to our team," said HDF President and Chief Executive Officer Joan Carty. "His varied background in commercial finance and real estate development and construction will contribute to our loan packaging and underwriting and help us to effectively leverage the pool of multifamily funds we deploy on behalf of our commercial banking partners."

HDF's Multi-Family Lending Program facilitates the development of affordable housing. It provides multifamily homebuyers, nonprofit and private developers of affordable, senior and special-needs units with a variety of finance options. It also offers technical assistance to developers and municipalities, and works with the private sector, other nonprofits and government entities to facilitate the development of more affordable housing.

The bank was founded in 1989. From its Stamford headquarters, it has expanded to serve all of southwestern Connecticut. Its Danbury office opened in 2004.