What's your dream? To rehab your new home? To open your own business? University Bank has teamed up with the city of Saint Paul to make your dreams easier to achieve by creating the Neighborhood Lending Partnership (NLP).

Since 1999, the city of Saint Paul has loaned University Bank $1,250,000 to provide loan guarantee funds for families to rehab new homes, and businesses attempting to grow in low-income communities.

Now you can apply for "gap financing" for the purchase and rehabilitation of residential or commercial real estate in Saint Paul. The NLP can also help you finance long term capital investments in your small business.

How does it work? Using the NLP, University Bank fills the "gaps" between what a customer has in liquid assets versus what a bank needs for a down payment in the form of a loan guarantee. For example, if your real estate purchase requires a $60,000 down payment, but you only have $10,000, the NLP can cover the remaining $50,000.

University Bank has leveraged the city's original loan guarantee funds by more than 400 percent. To date, University Bank has loaned nearly $6,000,000, which has resulted in the rehabilitation of 64 housing units and 16 commercial buildings. Click on Human Interest Stories to see the NLP in action.