Housing Choice Voucher Home Ownership Program
Helping families achieve the american dream of home ownership. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has expanded the Housing Choice Voucher Program to include a homeownership option. Now the same program that has helped you rent safe, decent and sanitary housing can help you purchase a home of your own. If you are a tenant-based voucher holder or an applicant on our waiting list and have the desire to own a home of your own, the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Assistance Program may be for you. By satisfying a number of program and eligibility requirements, you now have the option of using your Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to assist with the monthly mortgage payments of a home you will purchase.
Program Participation Requirements:
- You are currently a Housing Choice Voucher Holder for a minimum of one year.
- You must be a First-time home buyer, meaning no one in your household has owned a home within the last 3 years.
- Have a minimum annual income of $14,300 per year and have at least one adult family member who is currently employed full time, for a minimum of one year. (The employment requirement does not apply to an elderly or disabled family).
- Be in good standing with the Clarion County Housing Authority and any other Housing Authority. Minimum down payment of at least 3% of the purchase price of which 1% must come from family’s personal resources.
- The participating family must be “credit-ready” to qualify for a mortgage and must secure their own financing, which must be approved by the Clarion County Housing Authority. If a family needs credit counseling we refer you to a HUD approved counseling agency.
- You must complete Homeownership Counseling classes by the Clarion County Housing Authority or another HUD approved counseling agency. It is the family’s responsibility to find a home that is eligible for Voucher Homeownership Assistance.
- The home you choose must pass an inspection by an independent professional inspector and a HQS inspection by the Clarion County Housing Authority.
