Bill > A5569

Introduced Session

This bill, known as the "New Jersey American Dream Act," establishes the "New Jersey American Dream Program" ("grant program") to provide financial assistance for certain lower-income households to achieve homeownership. Specifically, the grant program would provide down payment assistance and home repair assistance to certain low and moderate income, first-time homebuyers in order to defray the costs associated with acquiring and rehabilitating single-family housing for principal residence. Under the grant program, the maximum grant awarded to each first-time homebuyer would not exceed six percent of the home's purchase price or $10,000, whichever is greater. Each first-time homebuyer who receives financial assistance through the grant program would also be required to complete not less than eight hours of a homebuyer counseling course, as directed by the Department of Community Affairs ("department"). Under the bill, eligible recipients of financial assistance would include low and moderate income households who are first-time homebuyers. The bill defines a "low and moderate income household" as any household whose gross income is not greater than 80 percent of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the county in which the single-family housing, for which financial assistance is provided, is located. Additionally, a "first-time homebuyer" is defined as any low and moderate 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. The Division of Housing and Community Resources ("division") in the department would administer the grant program. Under the bill, the Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the director of the division, would be required to promulgate rules and regulations within three months of the enactment of the bill to effectuate the purposes of the grant program. The bill requires the grant program to remain in operation for not less than four years. During that time, the bill also requires the State to annually appropriate not less than $25 million from the General Fund to support the operations of the grant program, except that the department may not retain more than five percent of program funding for administrative costs. Accordingly, the bill appropriates $25 million from the General Fund to the department to support the grant program's first year of operations.

Committee Categories

Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee (on 06/13/2019)

Official Document