Standard & Poor’s Rating Service has once again affirmed West Virginia Housing Development Fund’s “AAA” issuer credit rating. The “AAA” qualification is Standard & Poor’s highest ranking and the Fund is the only state housing finance agency to receive a “AAA” rating.
The rating service lauded the extremely high credit quality of the Fund’s asset base, the Fund’s ability to successfully meet its legislative mandate, the extensive experience of the Fund’s management team and its conservative philosophy.
According to the report, the Fund “has been successful in meeting its mission of financing affordable housing for West Virginia residents.”
The authors of the report also noted that the Fund has a “strong, mutually beneficial” relationship with the West Virginia Legislature “that allows (the Fund) to function with autonomy,” and that the Fund’s board of directors’ provides “a great source of stability and depth of knowledge.”
A few accolades the Fund received include:
· The Fund’s extremely strong credit quality, very good asset-to-liability coverage and low-risk asset base.
· The Fund’s proactive approach to the lending community and willingness to adopt creative strategic initiatives.
· The Fund’s excellent history of working with the state to meet its legislative mandate.
“The “AAA” rating is a great testament to the Fund’s staff and their hard work. They understand the agency’s mission and take it to heart each and every day,” said Gov. Jim Justice, who serves as the chairman of the Fund’s Board of Directors. “We are the only state housing agency in the country to achieve and maintain a “AAA” rating. That really speaks to our dedication. But more importantly, this rating helps us do what we do best – help state residents make their dream of homeownership a reality.”
“We are fortunate to serve a community who understands what it means to own a home,” said Erica Boggess, the Fund’s Executive Director. “We have faith in this state and its residents, and that faith is reflected in this rating. We are only as good as our clients, but, we’re lucky to have the best clients in the nation.”
In addition to this distinction, The Huffington Post had also named West Virginia the best state for first-time homebuyers specifically because of Fund mortgage programs.
Standard & Poor’s is the world’s foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data.
The West Virginia Housing Development Fund is a public body corporate and governmental instrumentality of the State of West Virginia established to increase the supply of residential housing for persons and families of low- and moderate-income, and to provide construction and permanent mortgage financing to public and private sponsors of such housing. To date, the Housing Development Fund has issued more than $4.4 billion in bonds and has financed more than 119,000 housing units since it began operation in 1969. The West Virginia Housing Development Fund is an Equal Housing Opportunity Lender.