TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation will soon accept applications for its Lease to Home Ownership Programs that provide an affordable path to home ownership for Native Americans residing within the Cherokee Nation Reservation.
The applications will be for new and/or rehabilitated homes in the following counties: Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Delaware, McIntosh, Muskogee and Sequoyah.
Applications open Tuesday, Oct. 10, and run through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17. Families can apply online at https://www.hacn.org/leasetoown or in person by picking up and returning an application at any HACN office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Applications from each county will be randomly selected via a lottery-based system and placed on the HACN wait list. Each of the selected applicants will be notified by mail at the address provided on the application that their application has been placed on the waitlist. All other applicants will be notified by mail that their application is being inactivated and they can re-apply during the next open application period. Final applicant eligibility will be determined when a home becomes available and the applicant is pulled from the waitlist.
Eligible participants will enter into a lease agreement with the HACN for a fixed term, and upon fulfillment of the lease terms, HACN will deed the property to the leaseholder. Lease payments for HACN-operated lease-to-own programs will not exceed Fair Market Rent for the county in which the home is located.
"The Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation is always seeking ways to meet the housing needs of Native American families across the Reservation, and the Lease to Homeownership Programs are just another example of that," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. "A new addition to the application process for these programs is the lottery-based selection system, which aims to keep the application period open longer and allow applicants to submit information in a more relaxed manner than the first-come-first-serve system that was used in prior years."
To be eligible, applicants must be citizens of a federally recognized tribe and be at least 18 years of age. Duplicate applications will not be accepted, and social security numbers for all household members must be provided at the time of application.
For more information about the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation, visit https://www.hacn.org.