Quake Helped Some Dreams Come True : Housing: Supported by a public-private program, renters who lost apartments during temblor are buying their first homes.

All Edward Randolph wanted was a piece of green grass.

“I want a house with a yard,” said Randolph, 33, after buying his first home. “I want to watch my kids play in the yard. I want a patch of grass, something I can run a lawn mower over.

“I’m gonna buy a lawn mower. I can’t wait.”

Turning tragedy into opportunity, Randolph’s family is one of more than 60 in the San Fernando Valley that own their first home, thanks to an unusual earthquake assistance program.

Randolph, who has lived in apartments all of his adult life, shared his joy over his new Granada Hills home Friday with others who have similar dreams.

The grocery store clerk, speaking in front of 50 would-be homeowners in a small office in Sherman Oaks, told how he wanted the house so badly for his wife and four children that he took a second job a few months ago to save for the down payment.

Randolph’s apartment was damaged during the Northridge earthquake in January, 1994. He benefited from a joint public-private program that encourages low-income renters displaced by the quake to make the leap to home ownership.

“This is an opportunity for some good to come out of the Northridge earthquake,” said Los Angeles Housing Authority Director Steve Renahan, whose agency runs the program with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Started after the earthquake by a collection of housing, real estate and credit officials from throughout Los Angeles, the On Your Feet Mobility Plus program is aimed at helping people who might not otherwise get their chance to own a home.

Counselors have been advising families whose rents have been subsidized with earthquake-relief funds to save money to move into a house instead of another apartment.

Those who gathered Friday, such as Randolph, had lived in apartments damaged or destroyed by the quake. To qualify for the program, applicants must already be in the pool of low-income renters--about 11,000--who now receive rent subsidies through HUD’s Section 8 program. Officials said there is no income limit for the program, though most of the applicants are classified as low-income. The average cost of the homes ranges from $100,000 to $135,000.

The subsidies will expire this year, and officials report that many recipients have yet to find permanent housing they can afford.

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The benefits under the program are substantial. Mortgage payments are roughly one-third of family income. The loans are guaranteed by the federal government, and down payments typically range from zero to 2% or 3% of the value of the home. Agency officials then monitor the home buyers to assist them in planning and budgeting to make their payments on time.

Families with both one and two wage earners may qualify. Officials believe that by December, more than 300 such families will have moved into their own homes.

That dream came true for 19-year-old David Gonzalez, whose home purchase went into escrow Friday.

When he opened a letter informing him of the program, he hurried to a seminar, eager to hear more.

‘It never really ran across my mind that I could get a house,” Gonzalez said. “It wasn’t until I attended one of these seminars that I thought it could happen. With all they tell you about having a big down payment, good credit and having money in the bank, most people get discouraged and don’t think they can get a house on their own.”

Gonzalez, who works as a forklift operator, held back tears as he described the simple joy he feels at the prospect of moving into a new two-bedroom home with his mother.

“It’s only me and my mom since my dad left,” he told the audience. “My mom loves plants and she was always moving the plants around our apartment. Now she has her own yard to put her plants in.”

Ecstatic was how 36-year-old Agustin Ventura and his wife, Margarita, described their feelings when they found a three-bedroom house for $125,000 in Reseda through the program this week. Ventura said his six children would no longer be bound to play within the confines of their small apartment.

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There are other benefits to owning a home, officials said. Families accepting the responsibility of a mortgage often begin to pay more attention to the way they handle finances when the window of opportunity opens.

“It promotes family stability, pride and gets many of these families off of county social-services programs,” said Renee Thomas, a realtor who as a volunteer has helped families sort through paperwork and find affordable homes.

“A lot of times people don’t know what they can afford,” said Martin Cruz, a credit officer who volunteers to help applicants on their finances. “And everything sounds nice about having a house with a yard, but we want to make sure you pay that mortgage.”

“It was an opportunity to own my home with a little creativity,” Randolph said. “I was tired of living in an apartment. I been doing that all my adult life. I wanted a yard for my kids, something that I can call my own.”