$800,000 housing grant awarded to Placer County

Placer County was notified recently it has been awarded an $800,000 federal grant for two housing programs managed by the county’s Redevelopment Agency.

The county was awarded $585,000 for the agency’s First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Program and $195,000 for an Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program. Up to $20,000 will be used to cover administrative costs.

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The funds are from the federal HOME block grant program. In California, the grant program is managed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

The $800,000 grant can be used in unincorporated areas throughout Placer County. The funds likely will not be available to the agency for at least a month.

‘Our Redevelopment Agency is very pleased to receive this state HCD funding support,’ said Deputy Redevelopment Director James Lobue. ‘It helps us continue our successful housing programs and provides new opportunities for needy families to buy and maintain their homes at affordable rates.’

The First-Time Homebuyer Program provides deferred second-mortgage loans to assist eligible households with their down payments. A loan generally is not due and payable for 30 years unless a program participant sells or transfers the home, stops living there or defaults on the principal mortgage loan.

To qualify, a household cannot earn more than 80 percent of the median income for households of the same size in Placer County. For a four-person household, for example, the 80 percent limit currently is $58,500.

Participants in the program must purchase homes in unincorporated areas of Placer County. To be considered a first-time buyer, a participant generally cannot have owned or had an interest in real estate for the preceding three years.
 
The Housing Rehabilitation Program provides low-interest loans to low-income households who need to rehabilitate their homes. The Redevelopment Agency’s primary emphasis is on rehabilitation work that corrects health and safety issues.

Last year, the agency received $400,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding for housing rehabilitation assistance loans in Kings Beach. The agency recently issued its first loan with the grant funds and currently is reviewing a second application.