SM with workforce homebuyer down payment Assistance Program

By Agencies
[email protected]

The City of Santa Maria and the County of Santa Barbara announced that they are teaming up with the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County (HTF) to offer a Workforce Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance Loan Program.

This down payment assistance program helps local, low-income households purchase their first home in Santa Barbara County. 

Qualifying households cannot have owned a home in the last three years. 

The current income limits listed below are based on the 2021 California Department of Housing and Community Development Department’s (HCD) guidelines. 

They are subject to change once the 2022 data is published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD). 

It is important to note that the moderate-income limit is only for those who were victims of the Thomas Fire and Montecito Mudflow. Everyone else must meet the low-income limit requirement.

The program provides a 30-year, deferred down payment loan of 20 percent of the home purchase price, up to $100,000 per qualified homebuyer. 

The funding for this program comes from CalHome and the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) Program, State grants awarded to the HTF by HCD, Santa Barbara County, and Santa Maria.

Santa Maria, in collaboration with Santa Barbara County, is assisting the HTF by using its PLHA funds to provide additional funding for closing costs of up to $5,000 for eligible workforce borrowers who purchase homes within the County, except for homes in Lompoc and Santa Barbara. 

The local officials said that this may be subject to change upon available funding.

“A down payment assistance loan program of this kind has not been offered in northern Santa Barbara County for a decade”, the officials said in a press release. 

The goal of the program is to remove a financial barrier to homeownership so that qualified working households can purchase a home that strengthens the family and the neighborhood.

The Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County is a private non-profit Countywide financing agency whose mission is to raise financial resources to expand workforce and

affordable housing opportunities for the residents and workers of Santa Barbara County.

For more information about the Housing Trust Fund and the Workforce Homebuyer Down Payment Loan Program, contact Yvette Lounsbury, Homebuyer Loan Administrator, at, 805.845.3585 or via email at, [email protected]. 

For additional information visitwww.sbhousingtrust.org/workforce-homebuyer-program.