Riverside County Awarded $8 Million in Allocation for the Mortgage Credit Certificate Program

    RIVERSIDE, CA, January 13, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On December 10, 2014, the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee awarded $8M of the 2014 State Ceiling on Qualified Private Activity Bonds (PAB) to the County of Riverside for its Mortgage Credit Certificate Program administered by the Housing Authority of the County of Riverside. The $8M in PAB will be converted to Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCC) on a four-to-one basis.

The MCC Program is designed to help families afford homeownership. An MCC allows qualified homebuyers to claim a dollar-for-dollar tax credit equal to 20% of the mortgage interest paid during the year. Since the homebuyer's taxes are being reduced by the amount of the credit, their take-home pay effectively increases. When underwriting the loan, a lender takes this into consideration and the homebuyer is able to qualify for a larger loan than would otherwise be possible.

Rob Field, EDA Assistant CEO, noted that in 2014, EDA Housing assisted 85 low-and moderate-income families with buying a home using the MCC Program. A total of $3.4M in tax credits made it possible for these families to purchase homes in Coachella, Corona, Banning, Beaumont, Hemet, Indio, Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Norco, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto, Temecula, Wildomar and unincorporated areas of Riverside County. Since the program's inception, the County of Riverside has issued over 1,200 Mortgage Credit Certificates with a total of over $29M in tax credits.

To be eligible, homebuyers must meet the MCC Program income and purchase price limits, occupy the home as their primary residence, and be first-time homebuyers if the home is in a non-target area. The home must also be located within an eligible jurisdiction. Homebuyers can visit www.rchomelink.com or call (951) 343-5469 for more information on this and other homeownership programs.

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