“To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a first-time home buyers match program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a five-year pilot program under which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annually matches deposits by up to 20,000 eligible first-time homebuyers into qualifying savings accounts (i.e., accounts at insured depository institutions or credit unions) with the lesser of 50% of the buyer's deposit or $5,000, provided the account balance does not exceed 10% of the area median value of a single-family home in the buyer's area. Eligible prospective borrowers must be U.S. citizens age 18 or older who qualify as first-time homebuyers under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, have no more than $75,000 in liquid assets, earn no more than 120% of area median income, and complete homeownership counseling from a HUD-certified agency. Matching funds may be used solely for down payments, specified closing costs (e.g., title insurance, real estate commissions, appraisal/inspection fees, loan origination fees), or qualified home repairs (i.e., health/safety/structural issues identified in a certified inspection and completed within 20 days of closing). Amounts provided constitute a 36-month second mortgage that reduces by 1/36 monthly during occupancy, with any remainder recaptured if the home is sold or vacated. The program terminates five years after enactment, after which HUD must submit a report to the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee assessing effectiveness based on specified metrics (e.g., enrollment, matching funds disbursed, home purchases achieved, participant demographics, default rates versus non-participants, and repair usage).