First-Time Home Buyers Match Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7244 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7244

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 
    a first-time home buyers match program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 27, 2026

  Ms. Bynum introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 
    a first-time home buyers match program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``First-Time Home Buyers Match Act''.

SEC. 2. FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS MATCH PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
section, establish a pilot program through which the Secretary shall 
each year during the duration of the pilot program, deposit into a 
qualifying savings account of each of 20,000 eligible prospective 
borrowers an amount equal to the lesser of--
            (1) 50 percent of the amount an eligible person deposited 
        into such account during such year; or
            (2) $5,000.
    (b) Restriction.--The Secretary may not deposit amounts into any 
qualifying savings account if such account holds an amount that is 
greater than or equal to the amount that is 10 percent of the area 
median value of a single-family home in the area where the eligible 
prospective borrower who owns such account resides.
    (c) Requirement.--To be eligible to receive amounts under this 
section, an eligible prospective borrower must have completed 
homeownership counseling provided by a HUD-certified housing counseling 
agency.
    (d) Use of Amounts.--An eligible prospective borrower who receives 
amounts under this section may only use such amounts for--
            (1) a downpayment associated with the purchase of a single-
        family home;
            (2) title insurance and other closing costs associated with 
        the purchase of a single-family home;
            (3) real estate agent commissions associated with the 
        purchase of a single-family home;
            (4) appraisal and inspection fees associated with the 
        purchase of a single-family home;
            (5) loan origination fees associated with the purchase of a 
        single-family home; or
            (6) qualified home repairs, to be reported to the Secretary 
        through a disclosure form.
    (e) Recapture of Amounts.--
            (1) Second mortgage.--The amount provided to a participant 
        under this section shall be considered a second mortgage on the 
        home, as described in this subsection.
            (2) Term.--The term of the second mortgage shall be equal 
        to 36 months.
            (3) Reductions.--The amount of the second mortgage shall be 
        reduced by 1/36th on the last day of each month of occupancy 
        following the date of the disbursal of the amount.
            (4) Recapture.--If the participant sells or stops living in 
        the home, the participant shall owe to the Secretary the amount 
        due on the second mortgage as of the date that the home is sold 
        or vacated.
    (f) Termination.--The program established under this section shall 
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this section.
    (g) Report.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, 
not later than 180 days after the date described in subsection (e), 
submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 
of the Senate a report on the effectiveness of the pilot program 
established under this section that includes--
            (1) the total number of participants that enrolled in the 
        program;
            (2) the average amount saved by participants and the total 
        amount of matching funds disbursed;
            (3) the number of participants who successfully closed a 
        transaction to purchase a single-family home using amounts 
        provided through the program;
            (4) data on income levels, racial and ethnic backgrounds, 
        and zip codes of participants;
            (5) a comparison of mortgage default rates between program 
        participants and a control group of non-participant first-time 
        buyers in the same areas;
            (6) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the institutions 
        managing qualifying savings account in managing such accounts;
            (7) the percentage of participants that used amounts 
        provided under this section for qualifying repairs and the 
        average cost of such repairs; and
            (8) an assessment of whether the pilot program established 
        under this section helped participants have the amounts 
        required to purchase single-family home.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible prospective borrower.--The term ``eligible 
        prospective borrower'' means a person who--
                    (A) is a citizen of the United States;
                    (B) is 18 year of age, or older;
                    (C) is a first-time homebuyer, as such term is 
                defined in section 104 of the Cranston Gonzalez 
                National Affordable Housing Act;
                    (D) has not more than $75,000 in liquid assets, as 
                determined by the Secretary; and
                    (E) earns not more than 120 percent of the area 
                median income in the area in which the person resides.
            (2) Qualifying home repairs.--The term ``qualifying home 
        repairs'' means home repairs made after an inspect to address 
        health, safety, or structural integrity issues identified in a 
        certified home inspection report that are recommended by a 
        third-party, licensed home inspector and completed not later 
        than 20 days of the date on which the purchase transaction for 
        the home closed.
            (3) Qualifying savings account.--The term ``qualifying 
        savings account'' means a savings account opened by an eligible 
        prospective borrower at an insured depository institution or an 
        insured credit union.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
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