Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Relief topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House approves housing-relief fund to use stimulus dollars for unsold new homes
Summary
The House passed Second Substitute SB260 to create a Housing Relief Restricted Special Revenue Fund using roughly $10 million in stimulus dollars to move newly constructed, never-occupied homes into the market with grants (up to about $6,000) and escrow timing tightened to 90 days; the bill passed 59'yes, 13'no.
Lawmakers approved Second Substitute Senate Bill 260 on March 11 to create a Housing Relief Restricted Special Revenue Fund intended to deploy approximately $10 million of stimulus money to remove unsold newly constructed housing from inventory and place it with eligible buyers.
Representative Dee, the sponsor, said the fund would move quickly and allow roughly 1,600 newly built but never-occupied homes to be sold with a grant (sponsor cited up to about $6,000 depending on income and house price thresholds). The House adopted an amendment to require that monies be placed in escrow within 90 days (deleting a broader extension clause) so that funds target existing inventory rather than new-construction incentives, a change the sponsor and real-estate stakeholders supported.
Members asked about tax treatment of the grant; the sponsor said the Utah Housing Corporation is seeking federal IRS guidance on whether the grants constitute taxable income. Under the procedure described, lenders provide loan proceeds, Utah Housing places grant funds in escrow and releases them on closing; private lenders service the loans.
The House passed Second Substitute SB260, 59 yes to 13 no. The measure will be returned to the Senate for further consideration because of the amendment.
