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Since the priority period opened Nov. 10 for 2023 flood-impacted individuals to apply for mortgage assistance on new homes, Golden State Finance Authority has disbursed a quarter of the $14 million in available funds, according to director of marketing Carolyn Sunseri.
However, no San Benito County residents have been approved yet for the funding.
Sunseri says it doesn’t mean that there aren’t local residents who are going through the application process, though she added she did not have specific information on applicants.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development made the mortgage assistance funding available to certain areas that were damaged by the 2023 and 2024 floods, including San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
San Benito County residents are eligible to apply for assistance during the priority period if they lived in the county during the 2023 floods, their household income is at or below 80% of the area’s median income level, and they meet first-time homebuyer requirements.
In January 2023, Search and rescue crews assisted in evacuating about 23 people in the Lovers Lane area in the northeastern part of the county; another 25 refused to leave their homes, Sgt. Brian Penny with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office told BenitoLink at that time.
Two months later, residents of the Mission Farm RV Park in San Juan Bautista scrambled to move their vehicles to higher ground as the water level rose quickly, leaving behind their RVs. About 150 people were affected.
Sunseri said when the priority period ends on Jan. 12, funding of up to $300,000 per applicant will be made available to the rest of the qualified households with a low to moderate median income who are considered first-time home buyers.
Sunseri said the application involves several phases. The first primarily involves residents working with a lender to submit the application along with documentation of flood damage, as well as residency and income level.
She said applicants can prove they were impacted by the floods by submitting rental insurance claims and proof they had to relocate or take time off work because of the floods.
If approved, the second phase involves identifying eligible homes for purchase depending on household size. At this point, Sunseri said, the funds are already set aside for the applicant.
She said once a home is identified, the program determines how much money the applicant is eligible for, which is in addition to the funds the applicant is given by the mortgage lender.
“The funds are intended to help people move into home ownership in areas that are safer from fire and flood risk,” Sunseri said.
According to the program’s website, the funds are a second mortgage loan that is forgiven after the recipient owns and lives in their new home, which would be located outside high fire hazard and flood zones, for five years.
She said the program will continue until all funds are disbursed. If the Golden State Finance Authority has a surplus of applicants, it will create a waiting list in case other funds become available.
According to a November news release, the program has enabled more than 92 families to become homeowners through earlier disaster recovery efforts since June 2024.
“The program is designed to help families bridge the gap between what they can afford and the full cost of a home,” according to the program’s website. “Many households qualify for a first mortgage that doesn’t cover the total purchase price of an eligible home.”
She said the California Department of Housing and Community Development administers the ReCoverCa Homebuyer Assistance Program and contracted with the Golden State Finance Authority to manage it.
Residents can check their preliminary eligibility here.
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