Bill Text: NJ S242 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: "New Jersey American Dream Act"; appropriates $25 million to provide down payment and home repair assistance to low and moderate income first-time homebuyers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-06 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S242 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S242-Amended.html
SENATE, No. 242
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
Senator RONALD L. RICE
District 28 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
"New Jersey American Dream Act"; appropriates $25 million to provide down payment and home repair assistance to low and moderate income first-time homebuyers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee on May 6, 2021, with amendments.
An Act concerning housing assistance for certain homebuyers, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be known and may be cited as the "New Jersey American Dream Act."
2. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Community Affairs.
"Department" means the Department of Community Affairs.
"Director" means the director of the division.
"Division" means the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the department.
"Down payment assistance" means financial assistance for first-time homebuyers to acquire single-family housing for principal residence.
"First-time homebuyer" means a lower-income household in which no person has owned a home during the three-year period prior to the purchase of the single-family housing for which financial assistance is provided.
"Grant program" means the "New Jersey American Dream Program" established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
"Home repair assistance" means financial assistance for first-time homebuyers to complete capital improvements or repairs that: (1) are identified in an appraisal or home inspection completed in conjunction with a purchase of single-family housing; or (2) are completed within one year of the purchase of single-family housing and are necessary to bring the housing unit into compliance with any applicable health and safety housing code, including but not limited to the remediation of lead-based paint hazards.
"Low and moderate income household" means a household whose gross income is not greater than 80 percent of the median gross household income, according to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, for households of the same size within the county in which the single-family housing, for which financial assistance is provided, is located.
1"Overburdened community" means any census block group,
as determined in accordance with the most recent federal decennial census, in
which: (1) at least 35 percent of the households qualify as
low-income households; (2) at least 40 percent of the residents identify either as minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or (3) at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency.1
"Principal residence" means the homestead actually and continually occupied as the permanent residence of a household, as distinguished from a vacation home, property owned and rented or offered for rent by the household, or other secondary real property holdings.
"Single-family housing" means a one- to four-family residence, a condominium unit, a cooperative unit, a combination of a manufactured housing and lot, or a manufactured housing lot.
3. a. There is established in the division the "New Jersey American Dream Program" to provide financial assistance for low and moderate income households to achieve homeownership. The grant program shall provide down payment assistance and home repair assistance to low and moderate income households, who are first-time homebuyers, to defray the costs associated with acquiring and rehabilitating single-family housing for principal residence.
b. 1(1)1 The financial assistance shall be in the form of grant awards. The grant awarded to each first-time homebuyer shall not exceed six percent of the purchase price of the single-family housing or $10,000, whichever is greater. The grant award shall be used for down payment assistance, home repair assistance, or any combination thereof.
1(2)1 Each first-time homebuyer who receives financial assistance through the grant program shall 1, prior to the award of financial assistance,1 complete not less than eight hours of a homebuyer counseling course, as directed by the department pursuant to subsection c. of this section. 1The homebuyer counseling course shall include, but not be limited to, coursework concerning:
(a) the maintenance of housing costs, including methods for budgeting mortgage payments, utility charges, property taxes, and any other applicable housing cost;
(b) the basics of home finance, property taxes, home warranties, and home inspection;
(c) the legal components of finalizing a home purchase; and
(d) the process of finding an appropriate house, including how to search real estate listings through a real estate agent or other sources.1
c. (1) The commissioner, in consultation with the director, shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), on or before the first day of the third month next following the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to effectuate the purposes of the grant program. The rules and regulations shall, at a minimum, set forth the requirements for application submissions, the criteria for application selections, the eligible uses of financial assistance, and the curriculum and provision of the homebuyer counseling course.
(2) The division shall administer the grant program. The grant program shall remain in operation for not less than four years following the promulgation of the rules and regulations pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
d. 1The division shall dedicate at least 20 percent of the grant awards under the grant program to down payment assistance, home repair assistance, or any combination thereof for homes located in overburdened communities.
e.1 The annual appropriations act shall appropriate not less than $25 million from the General Fund to the department, during each year in which the grant program remains in operation, to defray the costs associated with administering the grant program, except that the department shall retain not more than five percent of the annual appropriation for administrative costs.
1f. The department shall submit an annual report to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), concerning the efficacy of the grant program for each year the grant program remains in operation. The report shall provide an annual overview of the total amount of down payment assistance and home repair assistance, respectively, provided by the department, with information by census tract on the race and ethnicity of the recipients of assistance provided for that year. The report also shall analyze the impact of the financial assistance on the total housing costs of the recipients of such assistance
4. There is appropriated $25 million from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs to defray the costs associated with administering the "New Jersey American Dream Program," established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
