02 - Laserfiche WebLink

THE CITY OF ~ ~ ~ ~ L~ ~S~4NTONo Housing Commission Minutes [SUBJECT TO APPROVALI City Council Chambers, 200 Old Bernal Ave., Pleasanton, CA May 15, 2008 7:00 p. m. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND OTHER MATTERS B. Discussion of Options for Providing Additional Funds to the City's Down Payment Assistance Loan Program Mr. Bocian advised that in August 2007, the City received a new allocation of $250,000 from the California Housing Finance Agency (Ca1HFA) for its Down Payment Assistance (DPA) program that was matched with a similar amount of City funds. At the September 2007 meeting, the Housing Commission approved several minor modifications to the DPA program in order to increase flexibility and marketability of the program, which were subsequently approved by City Council with the direction that staff should increase marketing of the program. The Commission was further advised that the DPA program had experienced a surge in activity since last September due in part to the program guidelines changes and the softening of the local housing market. As a result, all remaining funds in the program had been committed by November 2007, leaving the program depleted of funds since that time. Mr. Bocian advised that staff was now bringing this item back to the Commission for consideration regarding options for returning funds to the DPA program and recommending that the City Council: 1) approve modifications to the DPA program to create a new maximum of $20,000 for loans that are funded 100% from City funds; and 2) approve the allocation of $300,000 from the Lower Income Housing Fund to provide continued funding to the DPA program. He noted that staff believes it makes sense to keep the program moving forward even though there is no outside funding for it, since the program continues to be an important local tool to promote home ownership, particularly given the current favorable housing market. The Commission was informed by Mr. Bocian that the current program offers a higher Page -1 -