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Coastal Bank in mortgage assistance programs
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Pam Brandt is senior vice president and mortgage director at The Coastal Bank. - photo by Photo provided.

 SAVANNAH — The Coastal Bank, a locally owned and operated community bank headquartered in Savannah, has been approved for two new mortgage loan and down payment assistance programs specifically designed to help low- to moderate-income mortgage customers.
“These programs offer assistance to help stabilize communities and to help make buying a home easier,” said Pam Brandt, senior vice president and mortgage director at the bank. “We’re delighted to provide a wide range of financing options when it comes to buying a home.”
The Community Stability program provides up to $7,500 in funding for down payments and closing costs to first-time homebuyers or non-first-time homebuyers for the purchase and/or rehabilitation of an existing home in a neighborhood targeted for stabilization by a government entity, special district or authority.
Funding is provided as a 4-to-1 match, with homebuyers contributing a mandatory down payment of $1,000. The home also must be in a neighborhood targeted for stabilization by a federal, state or local government entity or any special district or authority.
The Foreclosure Recovery program provides up to $15,000 per homebuyer in funding for down payments and closing costs for the purchase and/or rehabilitation of an existing home from the real-estate owned inventory of a member financial institution.
This option can include single-family residences, town-home, Fannie Mae and FHA-approved condos and new construction held in a member bank REO inventory.
The funding is available to both first-time and non-first-time homebuyers and is provided as a 4-to-1 match with a required $1,000 deposit.
Applicants must be prepared to live in the home for five years and complete the prescribed homebuyer counseling, debt-management planning and default prevention programs provided by Credability, a nonprofit credit counseling and education organization.
If the buyer sells or refinances the loan within five years, a prorated share of the grant must be repaid. After five years, the grant is forgiven.
Income guidelines for program funding are determined per county and family size. To receive funds for the Community Stability program or the Foreclosure Recovery program, individuals must meet eligibility guidelines and apply for funds through a participating member financial institution.
“It is our hope that the Community Stability and Foreclosure Recovery programs will offer additional financing options for our customers and for the community at large,” said Jim LaHaise, executive vice president and chief banking officer at The Coastal Bank. “We are continuing to find new ways for our customers to take advantage of the help that is available.”
For more information, call Brandt at 912-201-7360 or email pbrandt@thecoastalbank.com.

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Record April boosts Savannah's container trade at port
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The Port of Savannah moved 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units in April, an increase of 7.1 percent. - photo by Provided

The Georgia Ports Authority's busiest April ever pushed its fiscal year-to-date totals to more than 3.4 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs), an increase of 8.8 percent, or 280,000 TEUs, compared to the first 10 months of fiscal 2017.

"We're on track to move more than 300,000 TEUs in every month of the fiscal year, which will be a first for the authority," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "We're also anticipating this to be the first fiscal year for the Port of Savannah to handle more than 4 million TEUs."

April volumes reached 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units, up 7.1 percent or 23,700 units. As the fastest growing containerport in the nation, the Port of Savannah has achieved a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 percent a year over the past decade.

"As reported in the recent economic impact study by UGA's Terry College of Business, trade through Georgia's deepwater ports translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater productivity," said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. "In every region of Georgia, employers rely on the ports of Savannah and Brunswick to help them become more competitive on the global stage."

To strengthen the Port of Savannah's ability to support the state's future economic growth, the GPA Board approved $66 million in terminal upgrades, including $24 million for the purchase of 10 additional rubber-tired gantry cranes.  

"The authority is committed to building additional capacity ahead of demand to ensure the Port of Savannah remains a trusted link in the supply chain serving Georgia and the Southeast," Lynch said.

The crane purchase will bring the fleet at Garden City Terminal to 156 RTGs. The new cranes will support three new container rows, which the board approved in March. The additional container rows will increase annual capacity at the Port of Savannah by 150,000 TEUs.

The RTGs will work over stacks that are five containers high and six deep, with a truck lane running alongside the stacks. Capable of running on electricity, the cranes will have a lift capacity of 50 metric tons.

The cranes will arrive in two batches of five in the first and second quarters of calendar year 2019.

 Also at Monday's meeting, the GPA Board elected its officers, with Jimmy Allgood as chairman, Will McKnight taking the position of vice chairman and Joel Wooten elected as the next secretary/treasurer.

For more information, visit gaports.com, or contact GPA Senior Director of Corporate Communications Robert Morris at (912) 964-3855 or rmorris@gaports.com.

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