Housing Trust Fund Ventura County announces $1,500,000 Line of Credit investment from Montecito Bank & Trust in support of affordable housing

Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (Housing Trust Fund VC) announces a $1,500,000 CRA line of credit from Montecito Bank & Trust. The EQ2 (equity equivalent investment) product being leveraged for this Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) line of credit is a long-term loan that allows community development financial institutions (CDFIs), like Housing Trust Fund Ventura County, to strengthen their capital structures and leverage additional debt capital resulting in the ability for increased lending and investing in economically disadvantaged communities, in this case through the development of affordable housing for seniors, farmworkers, the homeless, transitional age foster youth, and low-, very-low, and extremely-low income individuals and families in communities throughout Ventura County.

Use of the EQ2 investment vehicle is a first for Montecito Bank & Trust. Janet Garufis, Chairman and CEO, said “Montecito Bank and Trust has a long-standing relationship with the Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (HTFVC). We appreciate Linda Braunschweiger’s dedicated leadership in driving HTFVC’s work to increase affordable housing and home buying accessibility, and we applaud their continued expansion and commitment to Ventura County communities. Housing is a critical issue across the Central Coast and partnerships like these are foundational to developing scalable and sustainable solutions. As we continue our own expansion, with our Oxnard office opening at the end of this year, the EQ2 funding is one of many community development investments we are making in Ventura County as we live out our mission to make the communities we serve better places to live and work.”

This is the latest partnership in a long-standing relationship between Housing Trust Fund VC and Montecito Bank & Trust, dating back to the nonprofit’s inception in 2008 when it opened its first bank account with the Bank in Ventura. “Over the years, Janet (Garufis) and the entire Board at Montecito Bank & Trust have proven to us that they truly care about the important work being done by nonprofits in Ventura County,” said Linda Braunschweiger, CEO, Housing Trust Fund Ventura County. “And now they’ve doubled down on their commitment to affordable housing in our County with this large investment. These funds will go a long way toward providing affordable housing options for community members experiencing economic inequity or hardship,” said Linda Braunschweiger, CEO of Housing Trust Fund VC. Braunschweiger notes that 100% of the nonprofit’s funded developments serve extremely low to low-income individuals and families and to date Housing Trust Fund VC has provided affordable housing for 3,360 people in Ventura County.
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The $1.5M CRA investment is the largest received by Housing Trust Fund Ventura County from any organization to date and brings the nonprofit’s Community Impact Note investment total to over $7.5M. “Housing Trust Fund VC is honored to be the first recipient of Montecito Bank’s EQ2 CRA investment. The funds will be leveraged to significantly increase the availability of affordable housing throughout Ventura County,” said Housing Trust Fund VC Board Chair Tracy McAulay. Housing Trust Fund VC intends to double this investment through California’s Proposition 1 dollar for dollar fund matching grant program.