With his posts, I understand this knee jerk reaction, believe me, but this time the blind squirrel has found a nut. Kind of...
Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) introduced Assembly Bill 1840 last month to expand the eligibility requirement for a state loan program to clarify that loans for first-time buyers are available to undocumented immigrants.
The California Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program that launched last March by the California Housing Finance Agency offered qualified first-time home buyers with a loan worth up to 20% of the purchase price of a house or condominium. The loans don’t accrue interest or require monthly payments. Instead, when the mortgage is refinanced or the house is sold again, the borrower pays back the original amount of the loan plus 20% of the increase in the home’s value.
The original program was established in an effort to help low- and middle-income individuals buy a home, but the program doesn’t address eligibility based on immigration status, Arambula said.
New legislation could help undocumented immigrants become eligible for a loan program to purchase a home.
www.latimes.com
So, it's a loan for only 20% of the purchase price and, if the home is ever sold, the loan is supposed to be paid back in full, plus 20% of the increase in value. Now what they've done, or are trying to do, is expand the rules of the program to allow "undocumented" immigrants to take advantage of the deal.
Now, I was a first time buyer in California and I did not have the benefit of such a program and my first reaction, without the inclusion of "undocumented" immigrants is... well shit...
My reaction to the possibility of the program being expanded to include eligibility for "undocumented" immigrants is... WTF? Why? Why not wait until they're immigration status is clarified?
Were I still a taxpayer in the state, I'd be pissed. I'm not, so I suppose they can do whatever they want as a state. Just don't look to the Federal government to bail you out if things go sideways...