The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County Provides Loans to First-time Home Buyers

Don Lachman, program manager of The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, was guest speaker at this week’s Los Gatos/Saratoga District tour meeting.

Despite the hard economic times and stricter loan requirements, there is help out there for first-time home buyers, Dan Lachman informed SILVAR members at Wednesday’s Los Gatos/Saratoga District tour meeting.

Lachman is program manager of The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, whose mission is to make Silicon Valley a more affordable place to live. The Housing Trust makes loans and grants to increase the supply of affordable housing, prevent homelessness and assist qualified individuals and families in buying their first home.

Lachman asked REALTORS® to inform their clients about the following programs that provide assistance to first-time homebuyers – the Closing Cost Assistance Program (CCAP), the Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) and Equity Share Co-Investment (ESCO).

Under the CCAP, The Housing Trust will provide up to $6,500 to help pay for closing costs and other transaction expenses associated with purchasing a first home. A CCAP loan has a 3 percent deferred interest rate. The loan is not repaid until the house is sold or the owner refinances. Over 1,800 teachers, engineers and other have received CCAP loans since 2001, Lachman said.

The MAP is a second mortgage of up to $35,000 available to first-time home buyers in Santa Clara County. The Housing Trust MAP loan is a conventional second mortgage, with interest and principal payments due monthly and compatible with most banks and credit unions. It is a 30-year amortizing loan with the interest rate at 1.5 percent above the rate of the first loan.

To qualify for the CCAP and MAP, the income of a single-member household cannot exceed $88,600, or household income for a four-member household cannot exceed $126,600.

Lachman said The Housing Trust recently teamed up with American Home Equity Partners to provide a new down payment assistance program for buyers, the “equity share co-investment” or ESCO program. In this program, The Housing Trust will advance as much as $75,000 to first-time home buyers. The money will be used to match a buyer’s down payment. Payments on the ESCO loan will not be due until 15 years later or until the house is sold or the borrower refinances. The borrower repays the loan based on the appreciation of the home in equal proportions to the amount of the original down payments. To qualify for the program, the income of a single-member household cannot exceed $103,390, or the household income of a four-member household cannot exceed $147,700.

“We’re all about trying to get people in their homes,” Lachman noted.

Lachman explained The Housing Trust receives funds from the different cities in the county, the state’s Housing Community Development Department, from the federal government through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and from voluntary contributions from local Silicon Valley companies. In the past 10 years, Lachman said The Housing Trust has made 2,000 closing cost loans and helped 7,500 people. The Housing Trust also has a Homelessness Prevention program.

The Housing Trust invites REALTORS® and their clients to attend two workshops this month, which will provide more information about its First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Programs. See details here.

For more information about The Housing Trust, its programs and program guidelines, visit www.housingtrustcc.org.