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Housing Bill erases DPA October 1st.

Act Now to Save Downpayment Assistance!

This week the President signed H.R. 3221, Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, into law. The bill contains a provision (SEC. 2113) which forbids FHA from insuring mortgages in which the borrower's downpayment comes from a private downpayment assistance provider, beginning October 1, 2008. As of this date, the minimum downpayment will be increased from 3% to 3.5%.

The consequences will be devastating! By FHA's own estimates, DPA comprises nearly 40% of FHA's volume. This means more than 300,000 working class families will be locked out of homeownership in the next year alone. Communities across America will take the brunt of the $50 billion in lost real estate sales, not to mention the indirect impact on the real estate, mortgage and building sectors that will be forced to shed tens of thousands of jobs due to this dangerous legislation.

In order to save downpayment Assistance, we need to come together NOW to convince Congress to introduce and pass a bill that allows downpayment assistance to continue indefinitely.

Two Ways To Take Immediate Action...

Write Your Elected Officials
Please take a minute to submit your comment regarding the urgent need for legislation that allows for downpayment assistance to continue indefinitely.

Submit your comments through our Legislative Alerts and Updates page.

Call Your Elected Officials
A phone call to your U.S. Senators and House Representatives will make a huge impact to save private downpayment assistance programs.

Locate your elected officials

•1. Go to Elected Officials

•2. Enter Your Zip Code and click "Go".

•3. Click on the link of the Representative you would like to call and then click on the Contact tab to find their Washington D.C. and District office phone number.

Stay Informed
Sign up to receive future email updates as they become available.

Should you have any questions, our Customer Service Department is available at 877-634-3642 from 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. EST to answer your questions.

Nehemiah Corporation of America
424 N 7th Street, Suite 250
Sacramento, CA 95811

Toll Free: 1-877-634-3642
(877) NEHEMIAH
getdownpayment.com

Posted by Diego Hodge on 07/30/2008 01:10 PM

Comments (7)

renovation mortgage plus, diego hodge, fha, hud, foreclosure, down payment assistance, reo, bankowned, fha mortgage, lending atlanta, fha 203k

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7 Comments on Housing Bill erases DPA October 1st.

This has already been signed & turned into law - I don't know that there's much we can do at this point. I agree that it hurts our business significantly, but the protest period is over!

07/30/2008 01:13 PM

by Dan Magstadt (Meridian Financial)

Dan's right. You can still write your elected official and point out their mistake. At the same time, get ready to mentor people on how to save for a down payment.

07/30/2008 01:16 PM

by Mark Organek - Tempe Gilbert Mesa Chandler REALTOR (RE/MAX Alliance)

I called and wrote all of my elected officials, too no avail. I am going to exercise my right and vote them out.

07/30/2008 01:24 PM

by Overland Park Homes & Real Estate:: Michael Russell (Overland Park KS Realty Executives )

I haven't done one in a while and I know that HUD really didn't like them to begin with.

07/30/2008 02:01 PM

by Gene Allen Realtor Hampton Roads Real Estate (Resh Realty Group)

I don't have any expectation of the DAP being reinstituted anytime in the near future. We have to coach our customers how to save, how to improve their credit for better rates, and make them aware of the few 100% programs still available if they can qualify. Rural Development loans, THDA (state specific), and local grant programs for downpayment available to niche borrowers (not tied to sellers), as well as VA. It's a brave new world in the mortgage industry.

07/30/2008 02:25 PM

by Alice Smith Mortgage Loan Officer TN GA AL (American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc)

I have heard that there is a new bill that is bringing back the Nehemiah down payment assistance program back after October 1, 2008.

08/04/2008 02:24 PM

by Matthew Zgonc, REALTOR® for Modesto, CA (ERA Village One Real Estate)

This is actually great, great news. All of the greedy lenders, realtors, builders, and sellers actually have to be realistic about their expectations. It is completely artificial to expect that a $150K home to triple in price in just 3-4 years; that's completely insane. They're the ones that caused all of this mess that we're in now. Instead of people buying BMWs and Hummers on 7-year leases so that they can look cool while at a traffic light, they ought to think about just saving their money. Humm...what a concept, saving money? Golly gee whiz, duh. Well, people gotta' have their big screen TVs and their $500 iPhones to keep up with the Joneses, and with the average credit card debt being $15,000, it's not likely that people will do this because God forbid if someone should see them in a cheap car. If people are going to be stupid, then they deserve stupid things. Finally, some sense is in place. I am partying that the housing bill passed, and it will further make the needed correction.

08/26/2008 09:04 AM

by John

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