Senator Feinstein Cosponsors Bill to Increase Access to Two Federal Affordable Housing Programs

"Buying a home is one of the most important investments a family can make," Senator Feinstein said. "But for many California families home ownership seems unattainable. This bill, however, will enable 4,000 additional low-income, first-time home buyers in California to obtain a loan and purchase a home."

Specifically, The Housing Credit and Bond Modernization and Fairness Act makes changes to two federal affordable housing programs - the Mortgage Revenue Bond (MRB) program, and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.

The Mortgage Revenue Bond (MRB) Program:

The Mortgage Revenue Bond program allows states and local governments to sell tax-exempt bonds and use the proceeds to finance discount mortgages for low-income, first-time home buyers.

This legislation eliminates the time limit on access to the revenue created by these bonds, which is currently set at 10 years. This enables jurisdictions to provide additional loans to low-income families over the life of the bond.

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit:

States use the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to encourage developers to build multifamily housing specifically geared towards low-income families.

This legislation lowers the eligibility requirements for this program, allowing first-time home buyers to able to use either regional or statewide median incomes for determining if they qualify for the program. Current law requires States to use only regional median income to determine eligibility for housing.

Senator Hatch introduced this bill on April 2, 2001.

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