Support H.R. 600 and Downpayment Assistance Reform!
Down Payment Assistance has been around for a long time. It didn’t (in my opinion) cause or contribute to the bubble. Zero down and no qualifying easy money loans caused the bubble. Down payment assistance helped a lot of Las Vegas residents become homeowners. The programs worked in conjunction with FHA loans, which required reasonably good credit, provable income and job stability. The DPA programs like Nehemiah were thrown out with the bathwater of the lending crisis last year.
The Realtor community supports them be re-instituted, and we’d like your help. You can use the form in this link to contact your Representative and Senators. Please take a second to do it.
The FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 600), a bi-partisan bill sponsored by Congressmen Al Green (D-TX) would reform seller-funded downpayment assistance (DPA). H.R. 600 is the 2009 version of last year’s bill H.R. 6694.
Restore downpayment assistance programs for qualified homebuyers who need just a little bit of help to buy a home, stimulate the economy, stabilize home prices and revitalize neighborhoods.
A report issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirms that H.R. 600 would not cost the federal government or taxpayers any money. In fact, the CBO estimates that seller-financed DPA will generate $65 million over the next five years and save taxpayers $13 million next year.
Reinstating DPA could help ensure continued liquidity in the stagnating housing market by providing aid to an estimated 600,000 working-class people for home purchases this year, generating $150 billion in home sales.
In order to restore downpayment assistance programs, we need to urge Congress to pass H.R. 600 or attach it to an upcoming housing bill.
There’s more on the subject at the DPA GROUNDSWELL website.
