The Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT program is returning to Jacksonville with $5 million to provide matching down payment assistance grants up to $7,500 for qualified homebuyers.
Mayor Lenny Curry, along with representatives from Wells Fargo and nonprofit NeighborWorks America and Housing Partnership Inc., was to unveil the return of the program at a news conference Friday at City Hall. It was postponed.
When the program was implemented in Florida in 2012, Jacksonville joined Miami, Orlando and Tampa as recipient cities.
This year, Jacksonville is the only city in the state selected for the program, said Wells Fargo spokesman Michael Gray.
The grant is a loan at 0 percent interest that is forgiven after three years as long as the borrower lives in the home.
The combined income for all borrowers on the loan cannot exceed 80 percent of the area median income — $51,900 for borrowers in Jacksonville.
Borrowers who are active-duty military, veterans or their surviving spouses can have a combined income of $64,900 and still qualify for a loan.
In addition, if military personnel who receive a loan are temporarily transferred to another duty station, it will not be considered a violation of the owner occupancy requirement and the loan will be forgiven over three years.
In the case of a permanent transfer, a forgiveness clause is triggered and the grant is fully forgiven.
Properties that qualify for the program — whether a detached home, townhome, condominium, co-op, planned unit development, land trust or manufactured home — must be in Duval County and be the buyer’s primary home.
Loan recipients must complete before the closing homebuyer education sessions that are included in the grant program.
Gray said the 2012 grant cycle helped about 330 people in Jacksonville buy a home and the goal for this phase is to provide assistance to as many as 450 new homeowners.
A two-day event for potential homebuyers who wish to apply for a grant is 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 23-24 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center.
For more details about the program or to register for the homebuyer event, go to neighborhoodlift.org.
(904) 356-2466