Ok now that I got your attention here is the scoop. The state of Florida has reopened the Hardest-Hit Fund Down Payment Assistance (HHF-DPA) Program. The program opens March 4, 2019. This is an amazing opportunity to help prospective first-time home buyers wanting to purchase homes.
The program was first introduced February 19, 2010, by the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury). The “Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Innovation Fund was created a fund to help the Hardest-Hit Housing Markets” (HFA Hardest-Hit Fund). This fund provides federal funding to states hardest hit by the aftermath of the burst of the housing bubble. To date, $9.6 billion has been allocated to 18 states and the District of Columbia; Florida’s share totals more than $1 billion.
For Florida the Hardest-Hit-Fund (HHF) provides:
Qualified first-time home buyers with up to $15,000 in down payment and closing costs assistance. The program is available for prospective first-time home buyers wanting to purchase homes located in the following counties,
Clay
Duval
Hillsborough
Osceola
Pasco
As with all programs there are qualification requirements. The information for this will be made available March 4, 2019. However if the program holds to the similar guidelines as the 2010 program, some of the qualifications are:
*Complete a Home buyer Education Class
*Qualify for a Mortgage Loan
*FICO Score of 640 or greater
Further information can be found here.
Increase in Down Payment Assistance for Florida Home Buyers.
TALLAHASSEE - On March 4, 2019, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) will relaunch the Florida Hardest-Hit Fund Down Payment Assistance Program (HHF-DPA) in five approved counties. This federal program provides up to $15,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance to eligible first-time homebuyers and is forgivable 20% per year over five years. The March 4th launch date is for new locks/reservations made in the Program's eHousing Lender Portal. The Program Income and Purchase price limits are the same as those in our current guides, however we will update and post HHF DPA Guides in the next few weeks.
Florida Housing has successfully disbursed 100 percent of the over $1 billion in HHF program funds allocated by the US Department of Treasury (Treasury) two years ahead of schedule and is now using approximately $20 million in repayments of HHF program loans to assist additional Floridians.
Previously, HHF-DPA was available in eleven Florida counties. For the relaunch, Florida Housing used the latest market data to conduct a Treasury-mandated assessment of lingering negative effects in local housing markets. Based on this assessment, Florida Housing will assist eligible first-time homebuyers in the following five counties: Clay, Duval, Hillsborough, Osceola and Pasco.
Ron DeSantis, Governor
Board of Directors:
Ray Dubuque, Chairman
Ron Lieberman, Vice Chairman
Natacha Bastian
Renier Diaz de la Portilla
LaTasha Green-Cobb
Creston Leifried
Bernard "Barney" Smith
Mario Faccela
Ken Lawson, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
Harold "Trey" Price, Executive Director
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